The taxonomic value of leaf anatomy for species Byrsonima: a difficult genus of Malpighiaceae Juss.

Abstract

We studied the leaf anatomy of 15 species of Byrsonima and a single species of Diacidia as an outgroup to test the relevance of leaf anatomical characters to the complicated taxonomy of this genus. We present complete anatomical descriptions for petioles and leaf blades, together with an anatomical matrix, dendrogram and an identification key for the studied taxa. The most informative characters were the presence of stomatal crest, trichome type, epidermis type, contour and conformation of the vascular system in the diaphragm and medium petiole and number of accessory bundles. The aforementioned characters revealed that the anatomy of the petioles in the genus differs from that of petioles in the outgroup taxon with regard to vascular system conformation and the absence of cortical sclereids. Furthermore, the anatomy of the leaf blade appears to be quite informative in Byrsonima, especially in synonymized species. The anatomical features evaluated here have great value for Byrsonima taxonomy. These features may be used in an evolutionary approach to the group, especially for proposing a new classification system based on morphoanatomical characters of the genus.

Anatomia foliar de Barnebya (Malpighiaceae), um gênero endêmico do Brasil

“…Among the main characteristics used some of them can be highlighted, such as the number of accessory bundles in the petiole, conformation of the vascular bundle of the midrib, absence or presence of trichomes in the main rib, absence or presence of prismatic crystals and absence or presence of sheath extension. The anatomy of the petiole and characters related to the leaf glands of Barnebya were very conserved at the generic level, and the anatomy of the midrib was informative at the species level, a fact already observed by Araújo et al (2020) and Santos et al (2020) for other Malpighiaceae genera.…”

“…The use of anatomy applied to taxonomy has been increasingly used and has proved to be quite useful since the 19th century, combined or not with morphological characters (Solereder, 1908;Metcalfe et al, 1979) and in different botanical families like Malpighiaceae (Araújo et al, 2010;Almeida et al, 2017;Almeida et al, 2019;Mello et al, 2019;Araújo et al, 2020;Santos et al, 2020), Sapotaceae (Almeida Jr. et al 2012 ), Cyperaceae (Prata et al, 2007), Polygonaceae (Tabosa et al, 2016) and Euphorbiaceae (Feio et al, 2018), a fact proven in the referred work where we were able to describe and distinguish the species of the genus Barnebya using anatomical characteristics.…”

“…(2020) and Santos et al (2020) for Banisteriopsis and Byrsonima, respectively. The results obtained in this study corroborate these data and describe the biconvex type for Barnebya.…”

“…Myrtaceae (Gomes et al, 2009), Sapotaceae (Almeida Jr. et al, 2012), and Malpighiaceae (Araújo et al, 2010;Guimarães et al, 2016;Araújo et al, 2020;Santos et al, 2020).…”

“…ex Kunth, Camarea A.St.-Hil, Heteropterys Kunt and Stigmaphyllon A.Juss. (Mamede, 1987;Araújo et al, 2010;Almeida et al, 2017;Almeida et al, 2019;Mello et al, 2019;Araújo et al, 2020;Santos et al, 2020;Matos & Araújo, 2021). Thus, the present work aims to carry out an anatomical description of the leaves of Barnebya species, seeking anatomical and micromorphological characters capable of identifying the species studied, improving the taxonomy and systematics of the genus.…”