Survey of the Menispermaceae endocarps

[摘要] Menispermaceaeendocarpswereverymuchusedforlongintheclassificationofthisfamily.Thisorganalsopresentsadefinitepalaeobotanicalinterestasitisoftenpresentinfossilstate.ThelackofadetailedknowledgeontheendocarpsofextantMenispermaceaelimitstheidentificationofthosefossils.Thepresentpapertriestofillthislack,describingendocarpsof116speciesbelongingto55differentgenera.ThewholeMenispermaceaefamilyhasdrupaceousfruits,butthereisanimportantmorphologicaldiversityoftheendocarps,thedifferencesbetweenaffiliatedspeciesbeingsometimesveryslight.However,thecomparisonswithmolecularphylogeniesshowthatthedifferencesbetweenendocarpshaveaphylogeneticsignificance,tosomeextent.Menispermaceaeendocarpsarestraightorunderwentanoftenimportantcurvatureduringtheirdevelopment.Almostalloftheseendocarpsshowapeculiarstructureknownasacondyle,whichcanhavedifferentaspects.Somecharacters,suchastheendospermstructureandthestylescarpositiononthepericarp,dependofendocarpcharacters,atleastpartiallyandwithafewexceptions.Hypothesesonendocarpadaptationarelimitedbythelackofknowledgeontheseeddispersalofthisfamily.Akeyofthestudiedgeneraisproposed.

[学科分类] 植物学

[关键词] Menispermaceae;fruit;endocarp;condyle;Menispermaceae;fruit;endocarpe;condyle