scholarly journals Comparative leaf anatomy of Baccharis (Asteraceae) from high-altitude grasslands in Brazil: taxonomic and ecological implications

Botany ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (11) ◽  
pp. 615-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thales Ornellas ◽  
Gustavo Heiden ◽  
Bruna Nunes de Luna ◽  
Claudia Franca Barros

Baccharis L. is an important genus in the high-altitude environments of South America. In the State of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, the greatest richness is found at montane and high-montane ecological refuges, known as high-altitude grasslands. The high altitude provides several environmental factors that turn the high-altitude grasslands into singular tropical habitats. In this article we describe the leaf anatomy of six shrubby species of Baccharis, pointing out ecological aspects of the structures, and testing the use of statistical analyses to compare the species. Using light and scanning electron microscopy, we compared the anatomical features of the leaves and performed a cluster and principal component analyses. The results show novel features in the leaf anatomy for the genus, such as an undulated cuticle, three secretory ducts in the midrib, secretory ducts associated with the xylem, and biseriate glandular trichomes with an irregular organization of the cells. Our statistical analyses indicate that the anatomical features of the leaves, especially trichomes, are useful for distinguishing the different species, whereas others, such as isobilateral mesophyll, amphistomatic leaves, and an epidermis with thick cell walls correlate with their high-elevation habitat.

Phytotaxa ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 163 (4) ◽  
pp. 229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Sousa Couto ◽  
ROSANA CONRADO LOPES ◽  
JOÃO MARCELO ALVARENGA BRAGA

Dioscorea sphaeroidea is endemic to the high-altitude grasslands of the Serra dos Órgãos National Park located in southeastern Brazil. Based on the spheroid shape of its fruit and seed, i.e., not flattened or winged, this new species is morphologically unusual in the Dioscorea genus. Moreover, its unique morphology leaves this new species with no clear position in the infrageneric taxonomy of Dioscorea. Herein we present the morphological description of this species, including a discussion of its ecology and habitat, distribution, and preliminary risk of extinction assessment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. e50369
Author(s):  
Ordilena Ferreira de Miranda ◽  
Saulo Eduardo Xavier Franco De Souza ◽  
Rodrigo José Milan ◽  
Aline Borges Bueno ◽  
Marcilio de Almeida

Psychotria viridis Ruiz & Pav. (Rubiaceae) occurs naturally throughout the Amazon and it is traditionally used by indigenous communities, being incorporated into religious use in urban contexts over the last few decades. It is known and cultivated in many regions of South America for possessing valuable bioactive alkaloids. In this paper, we described P. viridis leaf morphology, anatomy and histochemistry from three populations cultivated in the southeastern Brazil, in order to identify possible adaptations to local environment and management. All plants presented terminal stipules and basic morpho-anatomical patterns of leaves, consistent with most species of the genus, as heterogeneous dorsiventral mesophyll, uniseriate epidermis, presents large cells with prominent vacuoles and druses. Unicellular non-glandular trichomes and multicellular starry trichomes were present in the primary and secondary veins. Amphi-hypostomatic leaf pattern, not yet described for the species, was common in all studied plants. Variation in the presence of domatia in the same population indicates that this structure cannot be used for taxonomic determination of P. viridis, as already described for other species of the genus. Presence of secretory ducts and reduction in stomata density and leaf area represent the main morpho-anatomic adaptations of plants from drier and warmer climates. Histochemical tests were positive for alkaloids, polysaccharides, proteins and phenolic compounds, being negative for starch only in plants subjected to water stress. We concluded that the morpho-anatomical and histochemical alterations found in the plants of this study resulted from seasonal water deficit adaptations and to maintain or attract mutualistic organisms.


Zootaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3599 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
ITAMAR A. MARTINS ◽  
HUSSAM ZAHER

A new species of the genus Holoaden is described from the Atlantic forest of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, being restricted to primary or slightly disturbed high altitude cloud forests along the northeastern portion of the Serra do Mar. The typelocality is determined as Estação Ecológica de Bananal, in the Municipality of Bananal, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The new species is characterized by its moderate body size (female 42.6–44.2 mm SVL; male 37.2–38.5 mm SVL) with long and slender limbs, a head wider than long, a highly glandular dorsum, covered by well developed macroglands that extend to the internasal region, thigh and tibia, and an intense dark brown dorsal coloration and dark grey ventral surface.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Djoko Santosa ◽  
Subagus Wahyuono ◽  
Sugeng Riyanto ◽  
SM Widyastuti

A morphological diversity analysis of Scoparia dulcis by macroscopy and microscopy has been conducted. The aim of this research is to determine the morphological and anatomical character of S. dulcis which grow in Opak watershed, Special Region of Yogyakarta. Samples were taken from Sleman (Cangkringan, Ngemplak Kalasan, and Prambanan) and Bantul (Imogiri and Pundong) region. Selection of sampling location is based on altitude difference. The samples are the third leaf order from the tip of the stem. They were measured in length and width. Microscopy analysis was performed by observing the number of glandular trichomes, palisade cells in the epidermis and stomata in the upper and lower epidermis. The data obtained were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). The results show that based on morphological and anatomical assessment, there were found 3 clusters of S. dulcis, i.e. Cangkringan-Ngemplak-Prambanan, Kalasan, and Imogiri-Pundong cluster.


Author(s):  
N. Nuzhyna ◽  
O. Tkachuk

The leaf anatomy of species of the genus Rosa: R. donetzica, R. kokanica, R. roxburhii, R. rugosa, R. spinosissima was studied. It was found that the plants R. donetzica and R. kokanica have very low drought tolerance by the anatomical structure. The plants of species R. rugosin and R. spinosissima have most xeromorphy features.


Rodriguésia ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosani do Carmo de Oliveira Arruda ◽  
Doria Maria Saiter Gomes ◽  
Aline Carvalho de Azevedo ◽  
Michelle Lima Magalhães ◽  
Mario Gomes

Abstract The present study deals with the leaf anatomy and leaf surface of Posoqueria acutifolia Mart., P. latifolia Mart., P. longiflora Aublet, P. macropus Mart., P. palustris (Rudge) Roem. and Posoqueria sp., collected in fragments of Atlantic rain forest, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The epicuticular wax may occur in the form of filaments, granules or crusts. The leaves are covered by a thick cuticular layer that may be smooth or striated. Paracytic stomata, and non-glandular trichomes are limited to the abaxial surface; the latter are numerous in P. palustris, and rare in P. longiflora and P. latifolia. Leaves have a dorsiventral structure, with only one layer of palisade parenchyma and varied amounts of spongy parenchyma. Idioblasts containing crystalliferous sand were observed, and were more abundant in P. latifolia. The leaf blade vascular system is formed by collateral bundles with a parenchymatous sheath, associated with fibers. The vascular system of the petiole and the leaf blade forms an arch. Some of the anatomical features observed can be used to distinguish the species studied. Anatomical leaf characters could be used in the recognition of six species of Posoqueria studied, such as anticlinal wall of epidermal cells, wax deposition, trichomes and shape of the leaf margin.


IAWA Journal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Menno Booi ◽  
Isabel M. van Waveren ◽  
Johanna H.A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert

Although araucarioid wood is poor in diagnostic characters, well in excess of 200 Late Paleozoic species have been described. This study presents a largescale anatomical analysis of this wood type based on the fossil wood collections from the Early Permian Mengkarang Formation of Sumatra, Indonesia. Principal Component Analysis visualisation, in conjunction with uni- and multivariate statistical analyses clearly show the wood from the Mengkarang Formation to be a contiguous micromorphological unit in which no individual species can be distinguished. Pycnoxylic wood species described previously from this collection or other collections from the Mengkarang Formation fall within the larger variability described here. Based on comparison with wood from modern-day Araucariaceae, the Early Permian specimens can be differentiated from extant (but unrelated) “araucarioids” by a few (continuous) characters.


IAWA Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-332
Author(s):  
Tahysa Mota Macedo ◽  
Cecília Gonçalves Costa ◽  
Haroldo Cavalcante de Lima ◽  
Claudia Franca Barros

Abstract Paubrasilia echinata is recognized as the best wood in the manufacture of high-quality bows for string instruments. The wood anatomy of five historic French violin bows of the 19th and 20th century made of Pernambuco wood were investigated in order to reveal the wood anatomic features of these historical bows, to determine which P. echinata morphotype (arruda, café or laranja) was used in their manufacture and to identify the state of origin of the wood. Five bow samples were compared to 33 P. echinata specimens from the Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte. The wood anatomical features were compared by means of principal component analysis, which revealed the type of axial parenchyma and percentage of tissue to be the most important to sort specimens. The best wood anatomical features previously described for high-quality bows were corroborated here and the bows in general showed similar wood anatomical features. Based on wood anatomy we found that the violin bows were most similar to the samples from the arruda morphotype derived from the States of Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte by presenting scanty, unilateral and vasicentric axial parenchyma without confluences forming bands, higher percentage of fibres and lower percentage of axial parenchyma. We can therefore suggest that the historical French violin bows studied here were all made of the arruda morphotype from the Brazilian Northeast region helping explain the preference of the French explorers for this region.


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