Seed morphology in the tribe Chloraeeae (Orchidaceae): combining traditional and geometric morphometrics

Previous work on orchid seeds showed that characters associated with the seed coat may be useful for classification and phylogeny at a suprageneric level. Seed morphology of several species of the tribe Chloraeeae is analyzed using traditional morphometrics while seed shape is studied, for the first...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Chemisquy, Maria Amelia, Prevosti, Francisco Juan, Morrone, Osvaldo
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2009
Country:Argentina
Institution:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repository:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/102681
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/102681
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:ORCHIDACEAE
SEEDS
CHLORAEA
GAVILEA
GEOBLASTA
BIPINNULA
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Description
Summary:Previous work on orchid seeds showed that characters associated with the seed coat may be useful for classification and phylogeny at a suprageneric level. Seed morphology of several species of the tribe Chloraeeae is analyzed using traditional morphometrics while seed shape is studied, for the first time, using tools of geometric morphometrics. Seed characters are evaluated by their discriminative power and the information they may provide in a phylogenetic context. Contrary to previous findings, seed shape resulted in a continuum among the taxa studied, and only in a few cases genera or groups of species could be discriminated based on shape. On the contrary, seed size, expressed as centroid size, was a variable character and informative at a phylogenetic level. Traditional measures of seed coat, mainly those of seed coat cells, were also helpful for discriminating genera and species, agreeing with previous statements about their utility in taxonomy and phylogeny.