| Abstract Detail
Systematics Section / ASPT Sweeney, Patrick [1]. Floral development and anatomy of Garcinia (Clusiaceae), with an emphasis on understanding the nature of disks, lobes, and rings. The genus Garcinia L. comprises more than 250 species of dioecious, small shrubs to medium-sized trees that are a common component of lowland tropical forests, but with centers of species diversity in Madagascar and South East Asia. An interesting feature of the genus from an evolutionary perspective is the diversity of floral form within the group. The flowers show variation in number of flower parts, amount of fusion within and between organs, the presence or absence of sterile reproductive organs, and the presence or absence of rings, disks, and lobes that are often described as nectariferous. Results of a recent phylogenetic study reveal that Garcinia species fall into one of two major clades that can be distinguished by their floral morphologies. One clade, Lineage A, has species with flowers that lack a well-developed pistillode and that possess a fleshy disk in the center of staminate flowers and pistillate flowers that have either fleshy lobes alternating with stamen fascicles or ring-shaped structures between the stamens and ovary. The other major clade, Lineage B, has species with a well-developed pistillode and that lack the disks, lobes, and rings found in Lineage A. Some have considered the fleshy structures found in Lineage A to be derived from reproductive organs, but developmental and anatomical data suggest otherwise, leaving open the possibility that they are of receptacular origin. The correlation between the presence of a pistillode and the absence of the receptacular disk is interesting from a pollination biology standpoint and may suggest a scenario where the receptacular disks and pistillodes may serve the same functions and their presence is largely mutually exclusive.
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1 - University of Missouri - St. Louis, Biology Department, One University Blvd, St. Louis, Missouri, 63121, USA
Keywords:
Clusiaceae
Garcinia
development
floral evolution.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Exhibit Hall (Northeast, Southwest & Southeast)/Hilton
Date: Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: P59011
Abstract ID:2149 |
