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Floral development of Urospatha: merosity and phylogeny in the Lasioideae (Araceae)

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Abstract

In this paper we study merosity in the genus Urospatha within the framework of a resolved phylogeny of the Araceae. We analyse how a transition from dimerous or tetramerous merosity to pentamerous or hexamerous merosity can occur developmentally in the Lasioideae. In Urospatha, initiation of floral primordia along the inflorescence is acropetal, while development of flowers is basipetal. This indicates the presence of two distinct phases in the development of the Urospatha inflorescence. The first phase corresponds to initiation of flowers and establishment of the phyllotactic pattern, and the second phase to differentiation of floral organs. Urospatha is characterized by the presence of trimerous, tetramerous, pentamerous and rarely hexamerous flowers. In all types of flowers, the stamens are closely associated and opposite to the tepals. Pentamerous flowers are formed by addition of a sector comprising a stamen and tepal. Likewise, in the case of hexamerous flowers, two sectors are added. In the Lasioideae, the increase in the number of tepals and stamens is linked with two developmental processes that have appeared independently in the subfamily: (1) addition of one or two stamen–petal sectors (Anaphyllopsis and Urospatha), and (2) independent increase in the number of tepals and stamens on whorls, more or less organized and inserted in alternate position (Dracontium). Tetramerous whorls as they occur in basal Lasioideae would be homologous to two dimerous whorls from an evolutionary point of view.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by operating grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to D.B. and C.L., and by the project “2ID” from the CNRS Amazonie Program (Conseil national de la recherche scientifique, France).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS-UMR 8172 Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, BP 709, 97387, Kourou, France

    Denis Barabé & Marc Gibernau

  2. Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Université de Montréal, Jardin Botanique de Montréal, 4101 rue Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, QC, H1X 2B2, Canada

    Denis Barabé

  3. Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE, C1A 4P3, Canada

    Christian Lacroix

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  1. Denis Barabé
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  2. Christian Lacroix
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  3. Marc Gibernau
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Correspondence to Denis Barabé.

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Barabé, D., Lacroix, C. & Gibernau, M. Floral development of Urospatha: merosity and phylogeny in the Lasioideae (Araceae). Plant Syst Evol 296, 41–50 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0475-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0475-6

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