Nogueira et al. 2015 (Article) Nidularioid, ovary

Ovary and ovule anatomy in the nidularioid complex and its taxonomic utility (Bromelioideae: Bromeliaceae)

Author(s):—F.M. Nogueira, N.F. Fagundes, S.A. Kuhn, J.N. Fregonezi & J.E. Mariath in Benko-Iseppon, A.M.; Alves, M. & Louzada, R. (2015) An overview and abstracts of the First World Congress on Bromeliaceae Evolution. Rodriguésia 66(2): A1-A66.

Publication:—Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 177: 66–77. (2015) — DOI

Abstract:—In Bromeliaceae the relationships and monophyly of subfamilies are well supported by morphological and molecular data, but delimitation among genera and species seems to be the most problematic in the Bromelioideae subfamily. The so-called nidularioid complex contains intimately related genera, the circumscription of which has been problematical. The search for morphological features, mainly regarding reproductive characters, has helped enlighten evolutionary processes among different groups. The goal of this work was to describe the ovary and ovule anatomical structures of six species of the nidularioid complex belonging to Canistropsis, Canistrum, Edmundoa, Neoregelia, Nidularium, and Wittrockia and to use these characters in a parsimony analysis of relationships. In all analysed species, schizogenous-type aerenchyma are present withinthe ovarian mesophyll. Edmundoa lindenii has trichomes on the ovary surface, and this character appears as an autapomorphy for the species. Canistrum aurantiacum exhibited some autapomorphies, such as four cell layers in the outer integument, non-elongated cells in the nucellar epidermis, and three or four layers of cells in the parietal tissue. In the remaining species of the complex, the presence of transversally oriented ovules and anticlinally elongated cells in the outer integument at the micropylar region appear as synapomorphies. Canistrum aurantiacum exhibits only a few characters in common with the other species, and our results, as well as the latest phylogeny, show that Canistrum species do not belong to the current nidularioid clade.

Keywords:—Plant Embryology; Aerenchyma; Trichomes.