Botany Commons^™

Wood Anatomy Of Ascarina (Chloranthaceae) And The Tracheid-Vessel Element Transition, Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Quantitative and qualitative features are presented for 13 collections of 8 species of Ascarina. Wood anatomy is maximally primitive in most respects; moderate exception occurs in the imperforate tracheary elements, which range from tracheidlike (A. solmsiana) to fiber-tracheids (septate in two species). Perforation plates are scalariform, average more than 100 bars per plate, and have bordered bars. Even more significantly, portions of the primary walls in perforations characteristically fail to dissolve; these pit membrane portions range from nearly intact (much like the pit membranes in pits on end walls of tracheids of vesselless dicotyledons) to remnant strands …

Wood Anatomy And Relationships Of Montinia, Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Quantitative and qualitative data are presented on wood anatomy of root, basal stem, and upper stem of Montinia caryophyllacea. Anatomy of twig wood of Kaliphora madagascariensis is compared with these results, as is the data of Ramamonjiarisoa (1980) on wood of the genus Grevea. Features common to the three genera in wood as well as other portions of the plant are reviewed; these are consistent with the interpretation that Montinia and Kaliphora are very close to each other, despite previous positions of the two genera in Saxifragaceae and Comaceae, respectively. Grevea, although more distant from Montinia than …

Assessing The Utility Of Isozyme Number For Determining Ploidal Level, Loren H. Rieseberg, Douglas E. Soltis

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

In order to evaluate the utility of isozyme number for estimating ploidal level in ancient polyploid (paleopolyploid) plant species, isozyme number was determined for species of the putatively paleopolyploid genus Helianthus with n = 17, and compared with those of a species of Heliomeris with n = 8. Electrophoretic examination of 13 enzymes revealed the presence of nine duplicated isozymes in Helianthus annuus and Helianthus bolanderi and six duplicated isozymes in Heliomeris multiflora. Thus, there is little difference in isozyme number between ploidal levels. It is suggested that the lack of strong concordance between isozyme number and ploidal level …

Follar Flavonoids Of Keckiella Ternata, Ron Scogin

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The major foliar phenolics of Keckiella ternata are quercetin 3-O-glucoside, kaempferol 3-O-glucoside, and acteoside (= orobanchin). The occurrence of flavonols in K. ternata is anomalous compared with other species of Keckiella and Penstemon, in which leaf flavonoids are based on luteolin and 6-hydroxyluteolin. The occurrence of foliar flavonols in K. ternata is interpreted as an advanced, derived condition.

Taxonomy And Natural History Of Hydnora (Hydnoraceae), Lytton J. Musselman, Johann H. Visser

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Hydnora is a genus of subterranean holoparasitic herbs found in arid and semiarid regions of Africa, Madagascar, and the southwestern part of the Arabian peninsula. Results from field and herbarium studies suggest the genus consists of four or five species, although more than 12 have been described. The recent rediscovery of H. triceps, a plant that had remained uncollected for a century, supports the need for additional field work. Taxonomic research has been impeded by a paucity of collections, which are often fragmentary in nature and poorly preserved. Supraspecific classification, species complexes, floral biology, and uses are discussed.

Allozyme Variation In Hellianthus Praecox Ssp. Hirtus, A Rare Sunflower From Southern Texas, Loren H. Reiseberg, Michael F. Doyle

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Allozyme data were used to evaluate the genetic status of a rare endemic sunflower from Texas, Helianthus praecox ssp. hirtus. Comprising approximately 200 plants, the taxon is presently known from a single population in the Carrizo Springs region of Southern Texas. Electrophoretic examination of 17 enzyme loci revealed that ssp. hirtus is genetically similar to, but distinct from, the two more widespread subspecies of H. praecox: ssp. praecox and ssp. runyonii. Levels of genetic variation in the single population of ssp. hirtus (P = 0.4 7, A = 1.88, and H = 0.17) are similar to those …

Wood Anatomy Of Tasmannia, Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Quantitative and qualitative data are presented for 11 collections of eight taxa. Diameter and length of tracheids are related to plant size, but populations in cooler locations have narrower and shorter tracheids than one would expect on the basis of plant size and age, and smaller tracheids are believed to be of selective value in these environments because of their resistance to embolisms. Vesturing is absent from tracheids in taxa from warmer localities but pronounced in colder places; this, too, is a probable mechanism for resistance to embolism formation. Helical thickenings are reported for one collection of T. insipida; …

Photosynthesis Of Arid And Subtropical Succulent Plants, Irwin P. Ting

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The hypothesis of Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is that it is a physiological adaptation to arid or otherwise dry habitats. Stomata are closed during the day and open at night when the evaporative demand is low. Thus exogenous CO₂ is fixed at night with relatively little water loss. CAM is typically found in succulents occurring in desert and dry Mediterranean regions, but not in the cold deserts of Asia. Recently, it has become known that many arid tropical succulent plants are CAM as well, particularly those growing epiphytically. The vegetation of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, ranges from desertlike …

Wood Anatomy Of Cercidium (Fabaceae), With Emphasis On Vessel Wall Sculpture, Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Quantitative and qualitative data are presented for wood anatomy of the seven species of Cercidium (including two subspecies of C. floridum as well as the hybrid C. x sonorae) currently recognized. Data on wood of Parkinsonia are presented for purposes of comparison. Vessel walls of Cercidium show unusual sculpture: coarse excrescences termed verrucae here, crateriform pits, and grooves interconnecting pit apertures. These plus crystal distribution, presence of septa in fibers, pit diameter, presence of vasicentric tracheids, and presence of diagonal vessel aggregations are probably species distinctions to various degrees. The crystal-bearing fibers of Cercidium, some of which have …

Leaf Anatomy Of The Goetzeaceae, Scott Zona

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

A comparative study of the leaf anatomy ofthree species of three genera of Goetzeaceae (Henoonia, Goetzea, and Espadaea) revealed a number of characteristics common to all genera, viz. anomocytic stomata, sinuous anticlinal epidermal walls, both glandular and uniseriate nonglandular trichomes, crystal sand and druses in the mesophyll (often in the same cell), and intraxylary phloem. The mid veins of these species exhibit secondary growth and parenchymatous rays. The unifying anatomical features of this family are, however, not uncommon in the Solanaceae. The results of this study support placement of the Goetzeaceae in or very near Solanaceae. …

Distribution Of Vessel Diameter In Ring-Porous Trees, D. W. Woodcock

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The wood anatomy of ring-porous trees presents difficulties of description and measurement. Information regarding the distribution of vessel diameters within the yearly growth increment may be of use of interpreting wood anatomy and function. Two distributional patterns can be recognized in the trunk xylem of the five ring-porous species investigated. The following terms are proposed: graduated-unimodal, to refer to ring-porous woods with one population of vessels, and graduated-bimodal, to refer to woods with two distinct peaks in vessel frequency.

Taxonomy And Morphology Of Aporomyces (Laboulbeniales), Richard K. Benjamin

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Thaxter's original circumscription of Aporomyces (Laboulbeniales) is emended in this study of the eight known species of the genus, three of them new: A. byrrhini, A. lutrochi, and A. physemi. The new species, as well as A. subulatus, A. szaboi, A. trinitatis, and A. uniflagellatus (type), are dioecious and occur on beetles belonging to the Limnichidae (Coleoptera: Dryopoidea). The eighth species, A. perpusillus, appears to be monoecious and occurs on Staphylinidae (Coleoptera: Staphylinoidea). All taxa are described and illustrated with line drawings and/or photographs. Aspects of thalloid structure and development are summarized. Aporomyces …

Factors Limiting Sexual Reproduction In Platanus Wrightii In Southeastern Arizona, Jane H. Bock, Carl E. Bock

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii: Platanaceae) is a riparian tree of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico. It is failing to reproduce in certain canyons where mature, seed-producing trees of this species occur. Three hypotheses were tested to explain this reproductive failure: I) the presence of domestic cattle prevents reproduction, 2) seeds produced in certain canyons are inviable, and 3) annual flash floods destroy seedlings and young saplings but not the large, mature trees.

Canyons, either grazed or ungrazed by domestic animals, were surveyed for the presence of seedlings and young trees. In the laboratory, seeds were tested …

Systematics Of Nama (Hydrophyllaceae), John D. Bacon

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Lemmonia has been maintained as a monotypic genus, despite the fact that it is morphologically very similar to several species of Nama. The major basis for this separation resides in the reportedly coalescent filament bases of Lemmonia as contrasted with the distinct filaments of Nama. Examination of corollas of Lemmonia with the scanning electron microscope has revealed that the filaments of the taxon are distinct. There is, then, no qualitative basis upon which to found Lemmonia, and the taxon is transferred to Nama.

Plant Taxonomy In My Time, Lincoln Constance

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

No abstract provided.

High-Elevation Draba (Cruciferae) Of The White Mountains Of California And Nevada, Reed C. Rollins, Robert A. Price

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Accurate identification of the species of Draba at high elevations in the White Mountains of eastern California and adjacent Nevada has been impossible because of frequent misinterpretations in the literature and the lack of a coherent source of information. A preliminary investigation of newly collected material suggested that several species of Draba, endemic or nearly so to these mountains, had not been recognized. Descriptions and relevant comparisons are given for a new combination, D. californica, and two new species, D. monoensis and D. subumbellata. Specimen citations for all taxa of Draba occurring at high elevations, roughly above …

New Species And Transfers Into Justicia (Acanthaceae), James Henrickson, Patricia Hiriart

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Justicia medrani and J. zopilotensis are described as new species while Anisacanthus gonzalezii is transferred into Justicia. The triad all have floral venation similar to red, tubular-flowered species of Justicia, though they differ from most Justicia in their tricolporate pollen with distinct pseudocolpi. In pollen and anther characters they are similar to Anisacanthus and Carlowrightia, but they differ from these in corolla vascularization and anther presentation and from Carlowrightia in corolla size. As the three taxa do not appear to represent a monophyletic group, and as Stearn has placed taxa with similar pollen into what has become a holding genus, …

Foliar Flavonoids Of Camellia Chrysantha (Theaceae), Rob Scogin

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Foliar flavonoids of Camellia chrysantha consist of two flavone C-glycosides which have chromatographic and spectroscopic properties very similar to corymboside and isocorymboside. The lack of detectable foliar flavonol glycosides contrasts with their presence in flowers of this species and may be anomalous within the genus Camellia.

Wood Anatomy Of Scytopetalaceae, Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Eight wood samples representing six species in two genera of Scytopetalaceae are examined with respect to qualitative and quantitative features. Rhaptopetalum differs from Scytopetalum by having scalariform perforation plates, fiber-tracheids, longer vessel elements, and a series of features probably related to the understory status of Rhaptopetalum is compared to the emergent nature of Scytopetalum. Features ofScytopetalaceae relevant to relationships of the family include (I) scaJariform perforation plates; (2) alternate medium-sized intervascular pits; (3) scalariform vessel-parenchyma pitting; (4) diffuse-in-aggregates and scanty vasicentric axial parenchyma; (5) axial parenchyma strands subdivided in places into chains of chambered crystals; and (6) rays that are …

Wood Anatomy Of Drimys S.S. (Winteraceae), Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Qualitative and quantitative data are reported for seven specimens representing six varieties of the four species of Drimys generally recognized. Tracheid length and diameter are correlated both with plant size and with severity of climate: wide, long tracheids, not fluctuating in diameter seasonally, occur in Drimys of moderate elevations in subtropical latitude; narrower, shorter tracheids, becoming radially narrower briefly in latewood, occur in Drimys from higher altitudes and latitudes. Vesturing (warty layer) on the inside surface of tracheids occurs in Drimys from latitudes and altitudes where appreciable freezing is to be expected, but vesturing is absent at lower elevations and …

Taxonomic Notes On Carex (Cyperaceae) Of Austral South America, Gerald A. Wheeler

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The name Carex poeppigii (sect. Echinochlaenae) is validated and a new combination in South American Carex, C. vixdentata (sect. Spirostachyae), is made here. Also, the taxonomic status of C. aueri is discussed, and this name is placed in the synonymy of C. reichei (sect. Arenariae).

Tracheid Dimorphism: A New Pathway In Evolution Of Imperforate Tracheary Elements, Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Certain dicotyledon families characteristically have tracheids as their imperforate tracheary element type. Of these, six families are anomalous by having septate (or nonseptate but living) fiber-tracheids or libriform fibers coexisting with the tracheids in some species or genera (Austrobaileyaceae, Celastraceae, Convolvulaceae, Ericaceae, and Grossulariaceae, and Rosaceae). Data from the literature and original data on wood anatomy of these families are presented. A theory of tracheid dimorphism is developed to account for these instances of tracheids combined with fiber-tracheids or libriform fibers. According to this theory, septate or living fiber-tracheids or libriform fibers are produced in addition to tracheids, starting with …

Rosaceous Chamaebatiaria-Like Foliage From The Paleogene Of Western North America, Jack A. Wolfe, Wesley Wehr

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Chamaebatiaria and Chamaebatia, two characteristic genera of the Californian floristic province, are traditionally placed in different subfamilies of Rosaceae , Spiraeoideae and Rosoideae, respectively. Analysis of the foliar and reproductive characters of the extant species of these genera indicates that the two genera could be closely related and the assignment of Chamaebatia to Rosoideae invalid. Fossil leaves of lineages of both genera occur in the Paleogene montane floras of the Rocky Mountain region and provide evidence that the two lineages diverged from a common ancestor in the Eocene. The common ancestor probably was adapted to sunny habitats in mesic coniferous …

Wood Anatomy Of Cneoraceae: Ecology, Relationships, And Generic Definition, Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Wood anatomy of the three species of Cneorurm is described qualitatively and quantitatively. The species differ in features related to ecology and form a clear series in this regard. The wood features of the family can all be matched by some Rutaceae and Simarubaceae, and the characteristics of Cneoraceae are listed in this connection. Nearly as many features are shared by Cneoraceae with Anacardiaceae and Sapindaceae; certain distinctive features may be found in somewhat more distant families, such as Oxalidaceae. Resemblances between Cneoraceae and Euphorbiaceae are attributed at least in part to the fact that Euphorbiaceae comprise a highly heterogeneous …

Leaf Phenolics Of Gunnera Manicata (Gunneraceae), Michael F. Doyle, Ron Scogin

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Foliar material of Gunnera manicata (Gunneraceae) was examined for the presence of phenolics using standard extraction and identification techniques. Two lIavonoids, quercetin 3-0-ga1actoside and quercetin 3-0-g1ucoside and an unidentified ellagitannin are reported as occurring in G. manicata . The presence of quercetin 3-0-galactoside and a high concentration of ellagitannins offers some phytochemical support for a putative relationship between the Gunneraceae and Saxifragales.

Adaptability Of Scanning Electron Microscopy To Studies Of Pollen Morphology, John J. Skvarla, John R. Rowley, William F. Chissoe

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

We have explored methods to achieve excellent results in study of the pollen grain wall by using only one electron microscope, the scanning electron microscope (SEM). While the secondary electron imaging mode, the most common in use, has great value in characterizing the exine surface it is possible to obtain a more comprehensive representation of pollen grain walls by expanding the capability of the secondary mode and making use of backscatter and transmission imaging detectors. In this way information is obtained about internal exine features that are likely to be more stable phylogenetically than the generally late-to-form surface structure. We …

A Synopsis Of Flacourtiaceae, David E. Lemke

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Flacourtiaceae are a large, mostly tropical, family containing more than 800 species. As circumscribed by Warburg and Gilg the family is rather heterogeneous and indeterminate. The most recent generic treatment, that of Hutchinson, represents a considerable improvement in our understanding of the family, yet Hutchinson's Flacourtiaceae still contain a number of disparate elements. This preliminary generic treatment, based upon studies of gross morphology, wood anatomy, palynology, and phytochemistry, attempts to provide a revised framework for future studies of this diverse family. Ten tribes (Berberidopsideae, Erythrospermeae, Oncobeae, Pangieae , Homalieae, Scolopieae , Prockieae, Flacourtieae, Casearieae, Bembicieae) comprising 79 genera are recognized. …

Wood Anatomy Of Acanthaceae: A Survey, Sherwin Carlquist, Scott Zona

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Qualitative and quantitative wood features are reported for 38 species representing 22 genera, including the scandent genera Mendoncia and Thunbergia. Woods of Acanthaceae are characterized by relatively narrow vessels with simple perforation plates and alternate lateral wall pitting, septate libriform fibers, scanty vasicentric axial parenchyma, rays both multiseriate and uniseriate, erect ray cells abundant in rays (some species rayless or near-rayless), numerous small crystals or cystoliths in ray cells in a few genera (first documented reports of both characters in woods of Acanthaceae), and nonstoried structure. This constellation of features is very closely matched by woods of Gesneriaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Pedaliaceae, …

Wood Anatomy Of Nolanaceae, Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Wood of seven collections of six species of Nolana, a genus (18 spp.) of the central western coast of South America was studied for quantitative and qualitative features. The wood is ring porous, with moderately wide vessels bearing simple perforation plates and alternate pits with some grooves interconnecting slitlike pit apertures. Imperforate tracheary elements are fiber-tracheids with vestigial borders on pits or libriform fibers; vasicentric tracheids (reported for Nolanaceae for the first time) are present in varying numbers. Axial parenchyma is vasicentric scanty (sometimes absent), sometimes with tangential bands that may be terminal in part. Rays are both multiseriate and …

Wood Anatomy Of Martniaceae And Pedaliaceae, Sherwin Carlquist

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Quantitative and qualitative features are reported for one species of Martynia (Martyniaceae) and for seven species of six genera of Pedaliaceae. The inclusion of woody annuals as well as of shrubs provides a broader picture ofPedaliaceae than hitherto available. The wood features of Martyniaceae and Pedaliaceae (listed in the Systematic Conclusions) are compatible with placement of these families in Scrophulariales (Bignoniales). Ifindividual features of the two families are compared with those of other families of the order, however, no one family can be cited as more closely related to Martyniaceae and Pedaliaceae than any other. Martyniaceae is not necessarily the …