Fascicled Androecia in Dilleniidae and Some Remarks on the Garcinia Androecium

Abstract

AbstractIn Dilleniidae, stamen fascicles are interpreted either as phylogenetically secondary structures (derived from a single stamen primordium by dédoublement), or as the most archaic type of androecial organs in angiosperms. In context with an assumed high plasticity in the flowers at the beginning of angiosperm evolution (Endress, 1987 a, b), fascicled androecia can also be regarded as having coexisted with “magnolioid” spiral androecia since early in the evolution. On the basis of this assumption, it is easy to link the Dilleniidae, via their basal group, the Paeoniaceae, to the Magnoliidae. In Paeonia, the stamen clusters continue the spiral arrangement of the perianth members, with “limiting divergence” (Hiepko, 1964). Our investigations of Paeonia officinalis show that the fascicle primordia follow the spiral not only in their position, but also in their temporal sequence. In some Theaceae (Stewartia) and Clusiaceae (species of Garcinia) the divergence angle changes to 2/5, resulting in an epipetalous position of the stamen fascicles. The transition from fascicled (complex) androecia to simple ones (one‐ or two‐whorled) has occurred repeatedly within the Dilleniidae. A great diversity of androecial structures, based on a fascicled androecium, can be found in the palaeotropical genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae), which comprises about 200 species. Some of these forms, including exceptional ones, are presented in this article. The diversity in the androecium in Garcinia can be interpreted phylogenetically as a secondarily increased plasticity, resulting in morphological curiosities.