Sousa et al. 2008 (Article) Aechmea

Inflorescence architecture in Brazilian species of Aechmea subgenus Chevaliera (Bromeliaceae ? Bromelioideae)?

Author(s):—D. Sousa, M.D.G.L. Wanderley & M. Alves

Publication:—Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 158(4): 584-592. (2008) — DOI

Abstract:—The inflorescences in Bromeliaceae are indeterminate, supported by a terminal scape of variable size, and with bracts of variable position, number, colour, shape and texture. Aechmea is the most diverse genus of Bromelioideae (c. 220 species) having large inflorescences of variable size and shape. Aechmea subgenus Chevaliera comprises 21 taxa distributed throughout Central and South America, with a centre of species richness in eastern Brazil. A study of the inflorescence morphology of 15 Brazilian species is presented here (A. alopecurus, A. castanea, A. conifera, A. depressa, A. digitata, A. hostilis, A. leucolepis, A. multiflora, A. muricata, A. ornata, A. perforata, A. rodriguesiana, A. saxicola, A. sphaerocephala and Aechmea sp. nov. unpublished). The study was based on living specimens and herbarium material with the inflorescence architecture observed at different developmental stages. The study describes the architectural form of the inflorescences in full flower or with at least half of the flowers open, as fruit development may produce architectural changes in the axis. The inflorescence in the subgenus ranges from simple to compound. Spicate inflorescences are the basic pattern, and a capituliform pattern is reported here for the first time in Bromeliaceae. Compound inflorescences are the rarest form in the subgenus, being represented by racemes of spikes. Descriptions, illustrations and schematic diagrams are presented.?? 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 158, 584?592.

Keywords:—Brazil, Neotropics, monocotyledons, morphology, systematics