Floral anatomy of Cupania emarginata, a duodichogamous tree

Editorial: Diversity and evolution of Neotropical Sapindales

“…However, this distinction is not always easily identified since the presence of abortive organs (staminode or pistillode) is frequent. This functional unisexuality is particularly difficult to perceive when the abortion of the reproductive organ occurs at the end of floral development, as observed in Sapindaceae (Santos et al 2022;Solís and Ferrucci 2022) and Meliaceae (Gama et al 2022). This abortion can occur due to programmed cell death (Gama et al 2022;Solís and Ferrucci 2022) or, in the case of staminodes of Cupania L. (Sapindaceae), due to a change in the dehydration process of the anther wall that prevents its opening and consequent release of pollen grains (Santos et al 2022).…”

“…This functional unisexuality is particularly difficult to perceive when the abortion of the reproductive organ occurs at the end of floral development, as observed in Sapindaceae (Santos et al 2022;Solís and Ferrucci 2022) and Meliaceae (Gama et al 2022). This abortion can occur due to programmed cell death (Gama et al 2022;Solís and Ferrucci 2022) or, in the case of staminodes of Cupania L. (Sapindaceae), due to a change in the dehydration process of the anther wall that prevents its opening and consequent release of pollen grains (Santos et al 2022). Associated with these small variations in the developmental patterns that led to distinct floral morphotypes, Gama et al (2022) drew attention to the fact that small variations in the size of reproductive organs do not necessarily imply sterility, as observed in the gynodioecious Trichilia claussenii C.DC.…”