Comparative foliar epidermal characteristics of 15 species of Acalypha L. in West Africa are analysed using both light and scanning electron microscopy. Presence of hypostomatic leaves supports the series accepted by Bentham and Hooker (ser. Pantogynae-Acrogynae and ser. Pantogynae-Pleurogynae) except A. wilkesiana. In taxa of other series amphistomatic leaves were recorded. Among other taxonomically useful features of the genus are polygonal and irregular epidermal cell shapes, curved and undulate anticlinal walls, presence of regular to irregular striae and deposition of waxy flakes on the leaf surfaces. A. ceraceopunctata and A. segetalis can be distinguished from other species by the presence of peltate scale and only paracytic stomata respectively. An artificial bracketed dichotomous key is presented to delimit species of the genus Acalypha.
Keywords: Acalypha, morphology, epidermal cell, stomata, taxonomy.