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

Abstract

In Bromelioideae, the so-called nidularioid complex contains closely related genera, the circumscription of which has been problematic. The goal of this study was to describe the ovary and ovule anatomy 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 is present in the ovarian mesophyll. Edmundoa lindenii has trichomes on the ovary surface, and this character appears to be 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 orientated ovules and anticlinally elongated cells in the outer integument in the micropylar region appear to be synapomorphies. Canistrum aurantiacum shares few characters with the other species; these results and the latest phylogenetic analysis show that Canistrum spp. do not belong to the current nidularioid clade.

Stamen morphoanatomy of Dyckia Schult.f. (Bromeliaceae, Pitcairnioideae) species: new data for taxonomic use

“…Anatomical analysis of reproductive organs has been used for taxonomic and phylogenetic purposes in Bromeliaceae and Dyckia (Sajo et al 2005;Fagundes & Mariath 2010;Nogueira et al 2015;Santos-Silva et al 2015), due to not only the descriptive and diagnostic potential but also to the value of this kind of analysis in evolutionary considerations or the relative homogeneity of some often used morphological traits. In Dyckia, in addition to general anatomical traits of the flower (Dorneles et al 2014;Martins et al 2015), stamen anatomy, especially of the anther, has been investigated in some works from ontogenetic (Sajo et al 2005;Mendes et al 2012), taxonomic (Dorneles et al 2014;Martins et al 2015) and histochemical points of view, especially in endemic or rare species.…”

Flower and floral trichome morphology of species of Dyckia Schult. f. (Bromeliaceae, Pitcairnioideae), and their importance to species characterization and genus taxonomy

“…Morphological and anatomical studies using diff erent approaches have provided effective instruments for characterization of species and elucidation of taxonomic and phylogenetic problems in Bromeliaceae (Varadarajan & Gilmartin 1987;Benzing 2000;Sajo et al 2004;Proença & Sajo 2007;Santos-Silva et al 2015;Nogueira et al 2015), a predominantly neotropical diverse family. Given the structural complexity of reproductive organs in this taxon, morphological studies of diff erent fl ower organs have allowed for inferences of evolutionary, systematic, ecological and physiological orders in diverse genera of the family (Varadarajan & Brown 1988;Brown & Gilmartin 1989;Brown & Terry 1992;Sajo et al 2004;Fagundes & Mariath 2010).…”

Morphoanatomy of the ovary and ovule in Bromeliaceae subfamily Tillandsioideae and its systematic relevance

“…Recently, these features have been used in a taxonomic approach, e.g. Fagundes & Mariath (2014) reviewed the female gametophyte and ovule in Bromeliaceae and Nogueira et al (2015) showed ovary and ovule features in nidularioids. Fagundes & Mariath (2014) reviewed the female gametophyte and ovule in Bromeliaceae and Nogueira et al (2015) showed ovary and ovule features in nidularioids.…”