AOBPreview originally published online on May 24, 2004
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Annals of Botany 94: 167-178, 2004
© 2004 Annals of Botany Company
Micromorphological Studies on Seeds of Orobanche Species from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, and Their Systematic Significance
1 Departamento de Ciencias y Recursos Agrícolas y Forestales, Universidad de Córdoba, Apartado 3048, E-14080 Córdoba, Spain and 2 Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Sevilla, Apartado 1095, E-41080 Sevilla, Spain
* For correspondence. E-mail ifernan{at}us.es
Received: 24 December 2003; Returned for revision: 3 March 2004; Accepted: 18 March 2004, Published electronically: 24 May 2004
• Background and Aims Previous research has made clear the intrinsic taxonomic difficulties in identifying species in the genus Orobanche. The aim of this study, therefore, was to investigate the systematic utility of seed characteristics.
• Methods Light and scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the seeds of 33 taxa of Orobanche from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.
• Key Results Characters such as size, shape and ornamentation of the seeds were not found to be very useful in differentiation of taxa; however, other characters of the epidermal seed coat cells proved to be very helpful in this respect. Ornamentation of the periclinal walls could be used to discriminate four morphological types. Other features related to the anticlinal walls of the cells, such as thickness, presence/absence of a narrow trough, or relative depth, all contributed to the characterization of a large number of species.
• Conclusions The usefulness of micromorphological studies on seeds of Orobanche in relation to differentiating taxa is demonstrated, and a key is provided to distinguish species or groups of species.
Key words: Orobanche, seed, seed-coat, morphology, systematic significance, SEM.