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Systematic And Ecological Wood Anatomy Of Californian Scrophulariaceae. Ii. Penstemon Subgenus Saccanthera, David C. Michener

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Wood anatomy of nonarboreal Scrophulariaceae is little studied, yet such information is needed to understand the evolution of woodiness in the family and order. Description and quantification of wood characters of six species (nine taxa) of Penstemon subgenus Saccanthera show that these woods are specialized. Paedomorphic features include the standard declining-to-level curve of vessel element length by age, and (in several samples) a pronounced tendency to raylessness. Variation in ray characteristics is as great within as between species, suggesting that unsampled populational variation in ray characteristics may be present. Cells intermediate between fibers and nonseptate parenchyma are present and complement …