Search results for " micromorphology"
showing 10 items of 11 documents
Stipa dickorei sp. nov. (Poaceae), three new records and a checklist of feather grasses of China
2016
Stipa dickorei sp. nov. from the Western Tibetan Plateau (China) is described. The new species is morphologically similar to S. regeliana, but they differ from each other in the length of ligules of vegetative shoots. Stipa dickorei is also similar to S. aliena, however they differ in the shape of panicle, which is contracted with straight branches in S. dickorei, and lax with flexuous branches in S. aliena. Images of macromorphological and micromorphological structures of the new taxon are provided. Additionally, new records of S. borysthenica, S. richteriana, and S. zalesskii, species not listed in the recent Flora of China, as well as a checklist of Chinese feather grasses are also prese…
Multivariate morphometric analysis of the Stipa turkestanica group (Poaceae: Stipa sect. Stipa)
2015
Based on numerical analyses of macromorphological characters (cluster analysis, principal coordinate analysis and principal component analysis), scanning electron microscopy observation of lemma and lamina micromorphology, as well as field observations, five taxa belonging to the Stipa turkestanica group have been recognized in the mountain area of Central Asia. They are S. turkestanica subsp. turkestanica, S. turkestanica subsp. trichoides, S. macroglossa subsp. macroglossa, S. macroglossa subsp. kazachstanica and S. kirghisorum. As a result of this study, we propose one new combination, S. macroglossa var. pubescens, and designate lectotypes for S. turkestanica subsp. trichoides and S. ma…
A multiproxy record of palaeoenvironmental conditions at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia)
2019
This paper presents a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental study from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain), a rock shelter which has yielded evidence for Middle Palaeolithic human occupation. The sedimentary sequence has been analysed for lipid biomarker n-alkane abundances (ACL, CPI), compound specific leaf wax δH and δC, and bulk organic geochemistry (TOC, %N, %S), providing a record of past climate and local vegetation dynamics. Site formation processes have been reconstructed through the application of soil micromorphology. Analyses of anthracological, microvertebrate and macrofaunal assemblages from selected subunits are also presented here. Our data indicates that a variable climate marked by pr…
What do leaf anatomy and micromorphology tell us about the psammophilous Pancratium maritimum (Amaryllidaceae) in response to sand dune conditions?
2015
Abstract The present study aimed at verifying the morphological variation in leaf traits among different populations of Pancratium maritimum (sea daffodil) and the correlation between leaf diversity and climate conditions at different sites. Eleven populations of P. maritimum from Mediterranean coastal sand dunes were investigated with respect to leaf surface micro-morphology, leaf anatomy, and vascular pattern. Morphometric analysis was based on 29 quantitative foliar parameters. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant function analysis (DFA), and clustering by Ward’s method were used for the statistical evaluation. Results revealed a rather u…
Comparative leaf micromorphology, anatomy and architecture in some Mediterranean species of Pancratium (Amaryllidaceae).
2015
Pancratium L. is the most widespread genus of the Eurasian clade of Amaryllidaceae. It includes about 20 species of bulbous herbaceous geophytes, naturally occurring only in Macaronesia, Mediterranean basin, and throughout Africa to tropical Asia, but also introduced and cultivated in many countries (De Castro & al.2012). Pancratium species generally occur in specialized habitats, such as dry rocky slopes, cliffs, sandy seashores, coastal dunes, desert sandy soils. Leaf features are the main adaptive strategies of these plants in response to the numerous environmental constraints. Leaves in Pancratium show a gross morphological identity being usually glaucous, ensiform, parallel-veined, pla…
Plant morphology: outdated or advanced discipline in modern plant sciences?
2018
Despite an increasing societal awareness and sensitivity about biological diversity and nature conservation as pivotal matters for human survival and well-being, plant systematics has gone through a steady decline in interest, and researches on these topics are often neglected. This particularly applies to plant morphology in its broad sense (i.e. including anatomy, histology, micro-morphology), which has increasingly become marginalized and considered less important than other scientific methods in plant biology. Notwithstanding, even in the current times of genomics (plus other “omics” topics) and functional ecology, when trait-based approaches are essential for studying and understanding…
Flower and fruit structure of the endangered species Petagnaea gussonei (Sprengel) Rauschert (Saniculoideae, Apiaceae) and implications for its repro…
2015
Petagnaea gussonei (Apiaceae) is an endangered species endemic to the Nebrodi mountains (north-eastern Sicily). Although an increasing number of studies have been performed on this species, its reproductive biology remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate in detail the structure of the flower and the fruit of Petagnaea, and the possible implications for its breeding system and seed dispersal mechanism. Results from fieldwork, light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy suggest (1) the presence of protandrous hermaphrodite flowers; (2) geitonogamy, autogamy, and allogamy as breeding system mechanisms of P. gussonei, even if asexual reproduction is preferred b…
Plant morphology: outdated or advanced discipline in modern plant sciences?
2019
In the last decades, with the increase of molecular studies, the study of plant forms has gone through a steady decline in interest, and researches on this topic are often neglected and underestimated. Notwithstanding, comparative morphology as integrative discipline still assumes a pivotal role in modern sciences, remaining fundamentally relevant to nearly all fields of plant biology, such as systematics, evolutionary biology, ecology, physiology, genetics, molecular biology, not to mention also agriculture, bioengineering, and forensic botany. Contrary to common belief, plant morphology is not a conservative finished science, but, like other sciences, it is open to constant innovations in…
A new synonym and a new combination in Stipa aliena Keng (Poaceae: Stipa sect. Regelia)
2015
Stipa section Regelia comprises three species occurring in mountainous areas of Central Asia. One of them, S. smithii , was described by Martinovský in 1970, but the taxon has been overlooked in later taxonomical studies. The species was described with two varieties, var. smithii and var. macrocarpa . As a result of our taxonomical studies, we find the typical variety of the taxon to be conspecific with Stipa aliena , and propose that the second one be recognized as Stipa aliena var. macrocarpa comb. nov. Remarks on species belonging to section Regelia and micromorphological patterns of their lemma morphologies are discussed. A key to species close to S. aliena is provided.
Stipa klimesii (Poaceae), a new species from Western Himalayas (India)
2014
Stipa klimesii sp. nov. from the Western Himalayas (India: Ladakh) and its variety S. klimesii var. pubescens var. nov. are described. The new species is similar to S. roborowskyi but differs by its longer anthecium, longer ligules of vegetative shoots, longer hairs on seta and shorter awns. Stipa klimesii is also similar to S. purpurea, but differs by longer ligules of vegetative shoots, shorter awns, slightly shorter hairs on seta and by the character of the panicle, which is compressed and with straight branches in S. klimesii vs. lax and with flexuous branches in S. purpurea. Epidermal patterns of the lemma in S. klimesii and both above-mentioned species, were examined by scanning elect…