Anatomic and Morphological Peculiarities of Fruits and Seeds of Sorbus L. (Rosaceae) Genus under Conditions of Introduction

Abstract

The paper studies the anatomic and morphological peculiarities of fruits and seeds of 17 species of Sorbus introduced in the Saint Petersburg Botanical Garden, including one species of local flora, S. aucuparia L. f. rosea. The fruits and seed of Sorbus species are diverse, which can be used as taxonomy criteria in discussion of arguable issues arising during the systematization of the plant genus. The species differ in the external color of a fruit and morphology of seeds in them which can be dissimilar within one fruit or even one dissepiment. Seeds differ the most by shape and dimensions, structure and number of cell layers in the testa. In primitive and archaic species, the number of cell layers in the testa, especially parenchyma layers, is large (6–7 layers in S. cashmiriana and S. roopiana). The smallest number of parenchyma layers (2–4) is typical for more evolutionary advanced species S. sambucifolia, S. ‘Joseph Rock’, S. alnifolia, S. commixta and S. luristanica.