Seed morphology of the native species of the genus Ribes L. Part 2. The characteristics of individual species

Abstract

In this work the results of studies on the seed morphology of 6 native species of the genus <em>Ribes</em> L.: <em>R. uva-crispa</em> L., <em>R. nigrum</em> L., <em>R. alpinum</em> L., <em>R. petraeum</em> Wulfen, <em>R. rubrum</em> L. and <em>R. spicatum</em> Robson are presented. The diagnostic features of the investigated seeds are: colour and sarcotesta structure, aril size, seed coverage by arils, seed outline and the length to width ratio. The complex of these features allows to differentiate such species, as <em>R. uva-crispa</em>, <em>R. nigrum</em> and <em>R. alpinum</em>. The other species: <em>R. petraeum</em>, <em>R. rubrum</em> and <em>R. spicatum</em> can not be seperated, on the basis of the seed. Within the seeds devoid of outer parenchyma) layers of exotesta only the seeds of <em>R. uva-crispa</em> and <em>R. nigrum</em> can be seperated. Then the seeds of other species look the same. Two keys to determine the seeds of the investigated species, based on the fruit features, fresh seeds and "cleaned" seeds form the recapitulation of the work.