Abstract
Carnivorous plants from the Lentibulariaceae form a variety of standard and novel vegetative organs and survive unfavorable environmental conditions. Within Genlisea, only G. tuberosa, from the Brazilian Cerrado, formed tubers, while Utricularia menziesii is the only member of the genus to form seasonally dormant tubers. We aimed to examine and compare the tuber structure of two taxonomically and phylogenetically divergent terrestrial carnivorous plants: Genlisea tuberosa and Utricularia menziesii. Additionally, we analyzed tubers of U. mannii. We constructed phylogenetic trees using chloroplast genes matK/trnK and rbcL and used studied characters for ancestral state reconstruction. All examined species contained mainly starch as histologically observable reserves. The ancestral state reconstruction showed that specialized organs such as turions evolved once and tubers at least 12 times from stolons in Lentibulariaceae. Different from other clades, tubers probably evolved from thick stolons for sect. Orchidioides and both structures are primarily water storage structures. In contrast to species from section Orchidioides, G. tuberosa, U. menziesii and U. mannii form starchy tubers. In G. tuberosa and U. menziesii, underground tubers provide a perennating bud bank that protects the species in their fire-prone and seasonally desiccating environments.
Highlights
The Lentibulariaceae are carnivorous plants that produce three types of traps: flypaper (Pinguicula), eel (Genlisea), and suction (Utricularia) (e.g., [1,2,3,4])
Small starch grains (SGs) were in parenchyma cells of vascular bundles (Figure 4A)
In Genlisea tuberosa and Utricularia menziesii, underground tubers are a perennating structure that are key strategy to survive in summer fire-prone environments
Summary
The Lentibulariaceae are carnivorous plants that produce three types of traps: flypaper (Pinguicula), eel (Genlisea), and suction (Utricularia) (e.g., [1,2,3,4]). To survive unfavorable ecological conditions, members of the Lentibulariaceae form various vegetative organs such as: hibernaculae, dormant rosettes, subterranean bulb-like rosettes, turions, thick stolons, stem and tubers. Hibernacula occur in temperate species like Pinguicula vulgaris, P. grandiflora and P. alpina. Dormant rosettes and subterranean bulb-like rosettes occur in the heterophyllous Pinguicula species of Mexico and Central America. Leaves in these rosettes are non-carnivorous have a reduced lamina and possess succulent characteristics (e.g., [10])
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