| Pak. J. Bot., 47(2): 453-466, 2015. | Back to Contents | ||||
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Updated: 24-04-15 | ||||
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THE PHYLOGENETIC SIGNIFICANCE OF FRUIT STRUCTURES IN RANUNCULACEAE OF CHINA
XIN YU CHENG, MEI LIU*, CHUAN QI SHI, XIN XIN ZHANG AND JIAN RU
Abstract: The external and internal structures of fruits from 95 taxa representing 27 Ranunculaceae genera of China were studied. The results show that Ranunculaceae could be divided into 4 groups based on the fruit types, epidermal surface, vascular bundle, mesocarp cell, and endocarp cell structures: Group 1: follicle or achene, branching or branching and anastomosing vascular bundles, mesocarp parenchyma, and endocarp with one layer of lignified cells (including Aconitum and other genera); Group 2: achene, vascular bundle branching, mesocarp lignified, endocarp with one layer of irregular and partly lignified cells (Thalictrum only); Group 3: achene, endocarp with multilayered thick-walled cells (including Adonis, Batrachium and Ranunculus); Group 4: achene, two non-branching vascular bundles, and endocarp with one layer of fibers (including Anemone, Clematis and Pulsatilla). This study show that the fruit structures of Ranunculaceae could provide morphological and anatomical evidences for molecular phylogeny.
Key words: Fruit, Structure, Systematics, Ranunculaceae.
Key Laboratory of Molecular Cytogenetic and Genetic Breeding of Heilongjiang Province, College of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, P.R. China *Correspondence author’s e-mail: m.r.liu@126.com; Tel: +86 451 8806 0576; Fax: +86 451 8806 0575 |
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