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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2015, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (10): 108-119.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2015067

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The phylogenetic significance of fruit structures in Bupleurum of the family Apiaceae

CHANG Xiu-Qi, LIU Mei*, CHENG Xin-Yu, WANG Yu-Ting, WEI Xue-Ying, WANG Xue-Wei   

  1. College of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Normal University, Key Laboratory of Plant Biology, College of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150025, China
  • Online:2015-10-20 Published:2015-10-20

Abstract: The three-dimensional structure of fruits of 29 species, 5 varieties and 2 forms in the genus Bupleurum, from China were studied in depth and are reported for the first time in this paper. The fruit structures were found to vary greatly. The mericarp surfaces are smooth, approximately circular in transverse section, and ribs are slightly prominent. Two types of secretory structures, rib ducts and vittae, occur in the mesocarps. The former which are small in diameter are found in a few taxa and the latter include unbranched and branched vittae. The vittae occur in the furrow (1-5) and commissure (2-7) in most taxa, and they are similar to mericarps in length, usually unbranched, and sometimes short. The vittae are branched in a few taxa and dispersed in the mesocarps. The testa is composed of one or two layers of parenchyma cells. The endosperm is flat or slightly concave on the commissural side. Crystals are not present in the mesocarp. There are usually two carpophores, which are arranged on opposite sides of the commissural plane. Most features of the genus are present in other groups of the Apioideae, but branching vittae and testa with two layers of cells are only found in the Azorelloideae, Saniculoideae, and some groups of the Apioideae. The anatomical structures of Bupleurum fruits support its continued classification in the Apioideae, as shown by molecular studies.