Galtiera bostonensis, gen. et sp. nov., a protostelic calamopityacean from the New Albany shale of Kentucky

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 348-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles B. Beck ◽  
William E. Stein Jr.

Two parts of a single, anatomically preserved stem fragment form the basis of a new Lower Mississippian taxon that is characterized here in detail. Stelar morphology, leaf trace departure, secondary xylem, outer sparganum cortex, and Kalymma-like leaf bases provide evidence of taxonomic relationship with the Calamopityaceae. The primary vascular column is deeply three ribbed with protoxylem strands restricted to the periphery of the xylem. Trace departure is associated with a dextral shift in the position of primary xylem ribs such that the tip of each rib describes a helical course through the axis. The result is a Fibonacci phyllotactic fraction of at least 2/5. On the basis of our observations, we hypothesize that the protoxylem strands may comprise five sympodia and, further, that although protostelic in gross morphology, the primary vascular system of Galtiera might actually be more similar to typical eusteles of the Calamopityaceae than protosteles of any other major group. Sclerotic clusters and strands in the cortex are of interest because they are unusually numerous and are usually associated with the phloem either of the main stem vascular column or of leaf traces. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that this morphology reflects a pathological response by the plant to viral or other infectious agents.


1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 1040-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip R. Larson ◽  
David G. Fisher

The vasculature of elongating lateral branches was examined to determine how vessels produced in the branch unite with those produced in the main stem axis to form a continuous transport system. In a previous study it was found that differentiation of both primary and secondary xylem in a lateral bud or branch is independent of that in the main axis; i.e., xylem does not differentiate into the bud or branch from the main axis. When serial sections of the nodal region are followed downward, the bud vascular cylinder merges with that of the main axis and the adaxially situated bud traces (those nearest the stem) enter the bud gap margin first. The primary vessels of these bud traces differentiate in an oblique downward path along the margins of the bud gap, and they form radial files of primary vessels that lie adjacent to primary xylem of leaf traces in the stem. Traces situated more abaxially in the bud (those farther from the stem) contribute to other radial files of primary vessels, each of which lies progressively closer to the bud gap. Secondary xylem is initiated in the stem before it is in the branch. Consequently, the last-formed metaxylem vessels of the bud traces are continuous with secondary vessels of the stem. These latter vessels lie in the stem secondary xylem immediately external to primary xylem from the bud. Secondary xylem in the branch is initiated when foliage leaves and internodes mature. Secondary vessels formed in the branch traces are continuous with secondary vessels in the stem; these vessels are embedded in a matrix of fibers. Because cambial activity is more vigorous in the stem than in the branch, two vessels that are radially adjacent in the branch may be widely separated by fibers in the stem. The central trace of the axillant leaf enters the gap immediately below the last branch traces; at this level in the stem the leaf trace vasculature is entirely primary. The stem secondary xylem that overlies the leaf trace is continuous with that in the axillary branch.



2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-94
Author(s):  
Kavitha C.H ◽  
Meenu Krishnan ◽  
Murugan K

Ferns are one of the oldest vascular plants in existence and they are the second most diverse group of vascular plants followed to angiosperms. To unravel fern success has focused on the eco-physiological power and stress tolerance of their sporophyte and the gametophyte generations. In this context, those insightsencompass plant water relations, as well as the tolerance to and recovery from drought or desiccation stresses in the fern life cycle are reviewed. Lack of secondary xylem in ferns is compensated by selection for efficient primary xylem composed of large, closely arranged tracheids with permeable pit membranes.Protection from drought-induced hydraulic failure appears to arise from a combination of pit membrane traits and the arrangement of vascular bundles. Features such as tracheid-based xylem and variously sized megaphylls are shared between ferns and more derived lineages, and offer an opportunity to compare convergent and divergent hydraulic strategies critical to the success of xylem-bearing plants. Similarly the synthesis and accumulation of sugar, proline and stress proteins along with the production of pool of polyphenols add strength to desiccation stress. Thus, it can possible to suggest that selection acted on the physiology in a synchronous manner that is consistent with selection for drought tolerance in the epiphytic niche, and the increasingly diverse habitats of the mid to late Cenozoic.



IAWA Journal ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic Lens ◽  
Steven Jansen ◽  
Elmar Robbrecht ◽  
Erik Smets

The Vanguerieae is a tribe consisting of about 500 species ordered in 27 genera. Although this tribe is mainly represented in Africa and Madagascar, Vanguerieae also occur in tropical Asia, Australia, and the isles of the Pacific Ocean. This study gives a detailed wood anatomical description of 34 species of 15 genera based on LM and SEM observations. The secondary xylem is homogeneous throughout the tribe and fits well into the Ixoroideae s.l. on the basis of fibre-tracheids and diffuse to diffuse-in-aggregates axial parenchyma. The Vanguerieae include numerous geofrutices that are characterised by massive woody branched or unbranched underground parts and slightly ramified unbranched aboveground twigs. The underground structures of geofrutices are not homologous; a central pith is found in three species (Fadogia schmitzii, Pygmaeothamnus zeyheri and Tapiphyllum cinerascens var. laetum), while Fadogiella stigmatoloba shows central primary xylem which is characteristic of roots. Comparison of underground versus aboveground wood shows anatomical differences in vessel diameter and in the quantity of parenchyma and fibres.



1925 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude W. Wardlaw

In his Presidential Address to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in October 1920, Professor Bower (2) called attention to the question of Size in relation to stelar morphology, and advanced evidence (with particular reference to the Filicales) to show how the principle of similar structures has affected the internal morphology of the vascular system of plants. In dealing with the application of this principle he remarks that “the stems and roots of most plants are approximately cylindrical. The same is the case as a rule for their conducting tracts also. The cylinder is one of those solid forms in which the proportion of external surface to bulk is exceptionally low. Any deviation from the cylindrical form, either by external projections or by involutions, necessarily leads to an increase in the proportion of surface to bulk. The surface varies only as the square of the linear dimensions, but the bulk as the cube. It follows, therefore, that in carrying out any of those physiological functions of a living organism which depend on surface, as do all those of the acquisition and inter change of material, the actual size of the part which exercises that function is a matter of the greatest moment. The larger the plant is, the more dependent will it then be upon its form and detailed structure, not only for its stability, but also for the performance of its functions of absorption and transit of liquids and gases. This will apply not only to the external surface, but also to those internal surfaces which limit one tissue tract from another.” In illustration of this, examples were taken from the stems, tubers, and petioles of the Filicales, and the size-factor was also found applicable to the large prop-roots of palms, such as Areca and Verschaffeltia.



1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 476-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. S. Raju ◽  
W. N. Marchuk ◽  
Patricia L. Polowick

Growth and xylem differentiation in cotyledonary shoots were studied by partially isolating one shoot surgically in nondecapitated and decapitated flax plants (Linum usitatissimum var. noralta). Three types of cuts were made. The first type separated the shoot from the hypocotyl and the second from the epicotyl. The third type of cut was made at the node separating the two shoots, which, however, remained independently connected with the hypocotyl and epicotyl. In nondecapitated plants, the lateral shoots were inhibited. They had at their bases primary xylem strands, some of which were connected with the hypocotylary stele; the strands contained predominantly tracheids. In decapitated plants, the separated shoot grew vigorously when it was connected with both hypocotyl and epicotyl or hypocotyl alone. Such shoots contained at their bases abundant secondary xylem strands which were connected with the hypocotylary stele; the strands included predominantly vessels. The shoot that was isolated from the hypocotyl but connected with the epicotyl was inhibited even though it had abundant secondary xylem strands at its base. Results of this study suggest that growth of the cotyledonary shoot is dependent on the prior development of adequate xylem connections with the hypocotylary stele.



1982 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles B. Beck ◽  
Rudolf Schmid ◽  
Gar W. Rothwell


1926 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude W. Wardlaw

The influence of Size as a factor in the stelar morphology of the Filicales (2) and of some Primitive Plants (3) has already been discussed in the Proceedings of this Society. The aim of the present investigation is to determine by actual measurement to what extent Size may have acted as a causal factor in determining the structure and arrangement of the vascular system of Selaginella.



1960 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Mandryk

Stem infection of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Virginia Gold) with Peronospora tabacina Adam was established and its development studied. Mycelium of the pathogen spread from parenchyma tissue of the infected leaf blade into the vascular system of midrib and petiole and thence into the stem. In small seedlings mycelium was usually associated with all tissues and often killed the plant. In plants at the flowering stage necrosis was chiefly confined to the periphery of secondary xylem, the cambium, and the inner part of the external phloem region. As xylem aged it acted as a barrier to the spread of mycelium from external to internal phloem and to the pith. Cortex was not penetrated readily by the pathogen. When the pathogen became established in the cambium region of the stem at an early stage of plant growth, development of xylem was often inhibited. Such plants, when full grown, were brittle at the base and snapped off readily. Development of the pathogen in the stem was favoured by high humidity but was arrested by exposing the plants to benzol vapour, or to a daily temperature range of 75-105°F when humidity was not higher than 70 per cent. High temperature during the day followed by low temperature at night did not prevent spread of the pathogen from the leaves into the stem. Mycelium sometimes spread from infected stems into new axillary shoots with subsequent sporulation on leaves.



2008 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney Arthur Savidge

Trees were on Earth 394 million years ago (394 Ma) as spore-producing Archaeopteris progymnosperms having largediameter trunks of secondary xylem (morphotype Callixyon) produced by vascular cambium. Plants of smaller stature with primary xylem cores were present in Late Silurian (416 Ma), but they lacked cambium and it remains unclear how and when the first trees evolved. Progymnosperms faded and gymnosperms arose during Middle Carboniferous, and conifers, ginkgos, cycads, tree ferns and cordaites were well established by the Carboniferous–Permian transition (299 Ma). Woods of the earliest conifers were different from those of today, and not until Late Triassic (220 Ma) did any begin producing secondary xylem similar to modern woods, the xylem phenotypes of Cupressaceae and Araucariaceae emerging much earlier than those of Pinaceae and flowering plants. Conifers have persisted and done relatively well despite major extinction events, severe climate change, insectivory, herbivory and microbial activity, all of which were in effect before as well as during the appearance of trees on Earth. Approximately 600 conifer species continue to exist, and the survivors presumably possess the physiological fitness needed to adapt to an ever-changing biosphere. However, this is speculative because their physiology remains less than well understood. Forestry interventions such as planting one species to the exclusion of others have the potential to exacerbate as well as sustain the ongoing existence of our remaining conifers. Key words: bordered pit, cambium, cell biology, cellulose, evolution, lignin, paleobotany, protoplasmic autolysis, secondary growth, wood formation, xylogenesis



Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document