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SYSTEMATIC ANATOMY OF THE FLOWER AND FRUIT OF COROKIA
Author(s) -
Eyde Richard H.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1966.tb06841.x
Subject(s) - biology , petal , botany , genus , subfamily , trichome , gynoecium , tribe , stamen , sociology , gene , anthropology , pollen , biochemistry
Corokia , a genus of shrubs of New Zealand, eastern Australia, and certain Pacific islands, was first placed in Rhamnaceae, later in Cornaceae, and most recently next to Argophyllum , subfamily Escallonioideae, in Engler's monograph of the Saxifragaceae. Most manuals still list Corokia under Cornaceae from which it is readily excluded by several characters, including pluricellular T‐shaped trichomes, ligulate petals, vascular bundles running longitudinally through the center of the inferior gynoecium, histology and germination of the woody endocarp, and a conspicuous subepidermal layer of tannin‐containing cells. Corokia collenettei , endemic to the isolated island Rapa, retains the most primitive floral characters of the genus. Anatomical comparison of Corokia flowers with flowers of Argophyllum shows similarities that probably indicate affinity, but the relation of these two genera to others in Engler's subfamily Escallonioideae is unclear. Engler's inclusion of Berenice and Carpodetus with Corokia and Argophyllum in a tribe Argophylleae seems especially artificial.