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AOBPreview published online on October 10, 2005
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mci276
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received May 3, 2005
Revised June 21, 2005
Accepted August 29, 2005

Article

Floral Ontogeny in Ficinia and Isolepis (Cyperaceae), with Focus on the Nature and Origin of the Gynophore

A. VRIJDAGHS 1*, P. GOETGHEBEUR 2, A. M. MUASYA 3, P. CARIS 1, and E. SMETS 1

1 Laboratory of Plant Systematics, Institute of Botany and Microbiology, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
2 Research Group Spermatophytes, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
3 The East African Herbarium, National Museums of Kenya, PO Box 45166, Nairobi 00100, Kenya; Present address: Laboratory of Plant Systematics, Institute of Botany and Microbiology, K.U. Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
A. VRIJDAGHS, E-mail: alexander.vrijdaghs{at}bio.kuleuven.be


  Abstract

• Background and Aims The generic delimitations of Ficinia and Isolepis, sister genera in the Cypereae, are blurred. Typical Ficinia flowers have a lobed gynophore, which envelops the base of the nutlet, whereas in Isolepis the character is considered to be absent. Some former species of Isolepis, lacking the gynophore, were recently included in Ficinia. The floral ontogeny of representative taxa in Ficinia and Isolepis were investigated with the aim of evaluating the origin and nature of the gynophore in the Cypereae.

• Methods The spikelet and floral ontogeny in inflorescences collected in the field was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and light microscopy (LM).

• Key Results SEM images of Isolepis setacea and I. antarctica, Ficinia brevifolia, F. minutiflora, F. zeyheri and F. gracilis, and LM sections of F. radiata, show that the gynoecium in Ficinia is elevated above the flower receptacle by the development of a hypogynous stalk. From its apex, a (often three-)lobed cup is formed, which envelopes the basal part of the later nutlet. In developing flowers of I. antarctica, a rudimentary hypogynous stalk appears. In I. setacea, rudiments of a hypogynous stalk can be observed at maturity. In F. radiata and F. zeyheri, intralocular hairs are present in the micropylar zone. At the surface of developing gynoecia in flowers of F. gracilis, star-shaped cuticular structures appear which disappear again at maturity.

• Conclusions The overall floral ontogeny of all species studied occurs following a typical scirpoid pattern, though no perianth primordia are formed. The gynophore in Ficinia originates as a hypogynous stalk, from which the typical gynophore lobes develop. The gynophore is not homologous with the perianth.

Keywords: Ficinia, floral ontogeny, gynophore, Isolepis, scanning electron microscopy.
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