Abstract
The Vochysiaceae are Neotropical trees and shrubs, common in the savanna areas in Central Brazil (Cerrados). The family has been traditionally divided into two tribes: Erismeae, with three genera, and Vochysieae, with five genera. We investigated the stigmatic surface of six Vochysiaceae species, belonging to four genera of Vochysieae: Vochysia, Salvertia, Callisthene and Qualea. Flowers and buds at different developmental stages were collected. Morphological features were observed on fresh material and stigmatic receptivity was inferred based on esterasic activity. Pistils were fixed and embedded in paraplast and sectioned on a rotary microtome; the sections were stained before histological analysis. Stigmas of open flowers were also observed by scanning electron microscopy. Stigmas of all species were wet and showed esterasic activity at pre-anthesis and anthesis stages. Stigmatic surface was continuous with transmitting tissue of glandular nature. Vochysia and Salvertia stigmatic surfaces were formed by multicelular uniseriate hairs, and species of the remaining genera showed papillate surface. The exudate over mature stigmas in all species flowed without rupture of stigmatic surface and pollen tubes grew down between hairs or papillae. Differences on the stigmatic surface agreed with a phylogenetic reconstruction that separated two clades and indicated that Vochysieae is not monophyletic. Stigmatic features could not be associated with pollination and breeding systems.
Highlights
Vochysiaceae includes eight genera and ca. 200 tropical species of trees and shrubs (Heywood 1985; Litt & Cheek 2002)
In pre-anthesis and open flowers, the hairs appeared in Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) images covered by a precipitate that may be the secretion itself or some fixation artifact, which impaired more detailed observations
On the stigma of open flowers, different from that observed in Vochysia and Salvertia, the secretion was not so copious and it was not evident to the naked eye
Summary
Vochysiaceae includes eight genera and ca. 200 tropical species of trees and shrubs (Heywood 1985; Litt & Cheek 2002). 200 tropical species of trees and shrubs (Heywood 1985; Litt & Cheek 2002). Six genera occur in America and are well represented in the Brazilian flora. The dispersal centre is in the GuyanaAmazonian region and on the Central Brazilian Plateau, from where they seem to have spread to other Neotropical and Paleotropical areas (Barroso et al 1984; Kawasaki 1998; Litt 1999). The family has been traditionally divided in two tribes: Vochysieae with five genera, Callisthene, Qualea, Ruizteranea, Salvertia and Vochysia (Stafleu 1948; 1952; Marcano-Berti 1969) and Erismeae with two genera Erisma and Erismadelphus, the latter occurring in tropical Africa (Stafleu 1953; Kawasaki 1998). All genera are well defined and clearly separated by floral features. Vochysiaceae was traditionally included in the order Polygalales
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