Comparative vegetative anatomy and systematics of the Oncidiinae (Maxillarieae, Orchidaceae)

Authors: STERN, WILLIAM LOUIS; CARLSWARD, BARBARA S.

Source: Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 152, Number 1, September 2006 , pp. 91-107(17)

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Abstract:

Subtribe Oncidiinae comprises a vegetatively heterogeneous assemblage of species that has persistently been incapable of organization. Anatomy was considered to be a possible means to resolve the perplexity of relationships amongst the constituent taxa. The consistent occurrence of a foliar hypodermis, homogeneous mesophyll, conical silica bodies in stegmata, and ubiquitous fibre bundles in leaves provides a matrix for linking the taxa, as do the parenchymatous pith and O-thickened endodermal cell walls in roots. However, the strict consensus of the 40 genera studied was completely unresolved, suggesting that vegetative characters alone are insufficient to assess the relationships amongst these taxa, a conclusion also reached for the remainder of Maxillarieae. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 152, 91-107.

Keywords: cladistic analysis; endodermis; hypodermis; stegmata; vegetative anatomy; velamen; water-storage cell

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2006.00548.x

Affiliations: 1: Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-8526, USA

Publication date: 2006-09-01