Micromorphology of fruits and seeds of Iranian Geranium (Geraniaceae), and its systematic significance

Abstract

The fruit and seed micromorphology of 22 species of Geranium, representing the eight sections of the genus represented in Iran (G. sectt. Dissecta, Geranium, and Tuberosa of subgen. Geranium; sectt. Batrachioidea, Divaricata, Lucida, Ruberta and Trilopha of subgen. Robertium), have been examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Macro‐ and micromorphological characters, including fruit and seed shape, size, color, hair type and density, mericarp ornamentations, hilum position, seed coat pattern, epidermal cell shape, and anticlinal and periclinal cell walls, are presented. Two microsculpturing patterns are recognized on the mericarp surface: reticulate and pusticulate. The micromorphology of the seed coat showed four distinctive cell patterns. The seed epidermis is constructed either of polygonal, elongated polygonal, or square to rectangular cells. The polygonal type is the most common among the studied species, but the variation in testa cell characters, their size and shape, may provide further information and useful diagnostic characters at specific and infraspecific rank. The shape and color of the seeds are, however, of little systematic value. Fruit characters were found to be important for separating taxa at infrageneric rank and our results show that the species can be separated into subgenera and sections based on fruit morphology.

Species relationship and population structure analysis in Geranium subg. Robertium with the use of ISSR molecular markers

“…Previous study on species delimitation and species relationship performed in this genus (Salimi Moghadam et al 2015) revealed that fruit characters are important for separating taxa at infrageneric rank and their results show that the species can be separated into subgenera and sections based on fruit morphology, while seed micromorphological features generally do not support the sectional taxonomy, but provide valuable characters for the delimitation at species groups, species, and infraspecific levels (Salimi Moghadam et al 2015). Studies on Geranium species are mainly dealing with taxonomy, seed and pollen morphology, stem and leaf anatomy (Esfandani Bozchaloyi et al 2017a, b, c, d, Keshavarzi et al 2015, Onsori et al 2010, Salimi Moghadam et al 2015, Salimpour et al 2009, but there are no attempt to study genetic diversity, ecological adaptation and intra-and interspecific differentiation along with morphometric studies on Geranium of Iran. Therefore, we performed morphological and molecular study of 10 collected species of 5 sections in the subg.…”

Micro‐morphological characteristics of seed and ovary trichomes of Iranian Glaucium Mill. species (Papaveraceae) and their taxonomic importance

“…Several taxonomic studies have shown that seed and trichome micromorphology can be useful for classification and delimitation of taxa at all taxonomic levels and in different plant families (Barthlott 1981, Krak and Mraz 2008, Salmaki et al 2009, Satil et al 2011, Salimi Moghadam et al 2015, Tavakkoli and Assadi 2016, Arabi et al 2017. A high diversity of trichomes on the gynocium and carpels has been shown to provide valuable information for identifying Glaucium species (Boissier 1867, Cullen 1966, Mory 1979.…”

Taxonomic significance of macro and micro‐morphology of Geranium L. species Using Scanning Electron Microscopy

“…The previous studies showed importance of fruit micro‐morphological characteristics used in taxonomy of the genus. Fruit characters were found to be important for separating taxa at infra‐generic level but are not efficient to differentiate the sections (Salimi Moghadam et al, ). However, seed morphology was found useful for the taxonomic delimitation at the generic, specific as well as at the infra‐specific levels (Ather et al, ).…”