MACRO- AND MICROMORPHOLOGY OF FRUITS OF SOME SPECIES OF THE GENUS GERANIUM (GERANIACEAE)
Viktoriya I. Troshkina
Central Siberian Botanical Garden, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
Keywords: Geraniaceae, Geranium, mericarp, scanning electron microscope, sculpture of pericarp surface
Abstract
The article presents the results of macro- and micromorphological study of fruits of 41 taxa (40 species and two varieties) of the genus Geranium L. from three subgenera and 12 sections. The shape, size, surface of the pericarp, and structural features of the exocarp cells were studied. For the species G. laetum Ledeb., G. pseudosibiricum J. Mayer, G. asiaticum Serg., G. albiflorum Ledeb., G. malyschevii Troshkina, G. affine Ledeb., G. sergievskajae (Peschkova) Troshkina, G. transbaicalicum Serg., G. turczaninovii (Serg.) Troshkina, G. popovii (Tzvelev) Tzvelev, the structural features of the fruit were studied using SEM for the first time. The species G. rotundifolium is preliminarily excluded from the section Batrachioides and, accordingly, the subgenus Robertium and transferred to the section Geranium of the subgenus Geranium. It is shown that the morphology of the fruit and the mechanism of its dehiscence can be used to separate taxa at the level of genus and subgenus; the shape of the mericarp, the features of the sculpture of the pericarp surface - at the level of section, subsection and species.
|
