Seed morphology: An addition to the taxonomy ofAstragaleaeandTrifolieae(Leguminosae: Papilionoidae) from Pakistan

Abstract

Seed morphology was described in detail for 12 species belonging to 5 genera of tribes Astragaleae and Trifolieae (Leguminosae; Papilionoideae) using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to evaluate the taxonomic relevance of macromorphological and micromorphological seed characters. The study aims to search for diagnostic seed ultrastructural features that may help to elucidate species identification. For SEM analysis, seed morphological characters including seed form and shape, color and size, ornamentation, epidermal cell shape, and anticlinal wall pattern were investigated. As a result of the study, species‐specific characters have been determined. Based on seed exomorphology, three characteristic cell patterns; irregular, round, and flat were observed. In majority of studied taxa, species may be further differentiated based on seed shape, size, and surface ornamentation. The inconsistency in testa cell pattern, shape, and distribution of papillae or protuberances may probably give further insight and significant morphological features at specific and generic level within the tribe. This study illustrated that considerable taxonomic knowledge can be obtained by examining the seed characters of Astragaleae and Trifolieae, particularly at the species level. The results demonstrated that the use of SEM in seed morphology could play a role in the identification of taxa particularly at genus and species level. Twelve species of Astragaleae and Trifolieae were studied in order to describe and investigate the seed morphology and to evaluate the diagnostic value of this character using a SEM. A broader taxon sampling is required for classification at generic and tribal level, besides molecular and phylogenetic studies.

Microscopic techniques for characterization and authentication of oil‐yielding seeds

“…Besides, SEM is generally used for acknowledgment of micromorphological features of seed coat which guides us in recognition of plant species and genera Waheed et al, 2021). Moreover, micromorphological evaluation of seed testa helps in settling numerous taxonomical and phylogenetic issues and used for recognition of phenetic connections of a few classes (Dawood et al, 2020; Rashid et al, 2021). In specific cases, unrefined morphological data were not adequate, and along these lines checking micromorphological characters can offer an open door for a broad investigation of seed surface having classification issues (Luqman, Ahmad, & Bakhsh, 2019).…”

Palyno‐anatomical microscopic characterization of selected species of Boraginaceae and Fabaceae

“…Micromorphological studies have a key role in identifying and categorizing plants species within certain plant groups of Angiosperms such as ferns, leucophytes, bryophytes (Rashid et al, 2021;Khan, Akhtar, & Khan, 2020;Shah et al, 2019;Ayazet al, 2019;Kalsoom et al, 2019), and monocots (Bahadur et al, 2018).…”

Implication of scanning electron microscopy in the seed morphology with special reference to three subfamilies of Fabaceae

“…The color of the seed is one of the diagnostic and taxonomically important character (Rashid et al, 2020). Vast diversity had been noticed in the color of seeds.…”