Open AccessSystematic implications of seed coat diversity in Gaultherieae (Ericaceae)
Author(s) -
LU LU,
FRITSCH PETER W.,
BUSH CATHERINE M.,
DONG LINA,
WANG HONG,
LI DEZHU
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
botanical journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.872
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1095-8339
pISSN - 0024-4074
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.01024.x
Subject(s) - biology , synapomorphy , botany , reticulate , morphology (biology) , seed dispersal , achene , perianth , biological dispersal , phylogenetic tree , clade , zoology , pollen , biochemistry , population , demography , stamen , gene , sociology
The seed morphology of 90 samples from 83 species of tribe Gaultherieae ( Chamaedaphne , Diplycosia , Eubotryoides , Eubotrys , Gaultheria and Leucothoe ) and relatives in tribes Andromedeae ( Andromeda and Zenobia ) and Vaccinieae ( Satyria ) was investigated with stereoscopic and scanning electron microscopy. Seeds exhibit variation in shape, colour, size, wing, hilum region, primary ornamentation and epidermal cells. Non‐metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis based on selected seed characters supports the affinities of some groups within Gaultherieae at various taxonomic levels. Seed characters corroborate the delimitation of Andromeda , Chamaedaphne , Leucothoe , Satyria and Zenobia and Gaultheria series Trichophyllae , series Hispidulae , section Amblyandra and section Brossaeopsis . Parsimony optimization of seed characters onto a previously published phylogenetic estimate of Gaultherieae reveals that small seeds have evolved from larger seeds and an areolate seed coat has evolved from a reticulate seed coat. Optimization also suggests that several seed character states are synapomorphies or potential synapomorphies for some major clades of Gaultherieae. Seeds of Gaultherieae from East Asia, temperate North America and the Pacific are more diverse than those from tropical America. Samples from the eastern Himalaya possess the highest variation in seed morphology. The wing and bulging edge cells observed in seeds of Leucothoe suggest dispersal by wind. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2010, 162 , 477–495.