Abstract

Vestured Pits in Echium (Boraginaceae): Island Woodiness Revisited

Highlights

  • In an earlier study of woods of Echium from the Canary Islands and Madeira (Carlquist 1970a), the probability that pits on Echium vessels are vestured was mentioned, but as workers agree, these minute structures are best studied with scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

  • The sequence of species and the groupings inferred follow the scheme of Bohle et al (1996) the number of gene sites used in that study was small and the topology of their cladogram for the genus may lack robustness, and some of their species groupings may be subject to change

  • The wood of the perennial root of E. auberianum is distinctive in that the background cells (Fig. 1A) are not thick-walled fibers as in the other species (Carlquist 1970a), but rather thin-walled fibers that very likely could be living fibers. These could account for the meristematic nature of the root of E. auberianum, which produces leaves and annual inflorescences at ground level

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Summary

Introduction

In an earlier study of woods of Echium from the Canary Islands and Madeira (Carlquist 1970a), the probability that pits on Echium vessels are vestured was mentioned, but as workers agree, these minute structures are best studied with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM exploration of Echium vestured pits reveals presence of vestures in roots as well as stems; vestures in roots can differ appreciably from those in stems. The number of species included here (13) is the same as in the light microscope study (Carlquist 1970a), the roster differs by two species. Roots and inflorescences of E. auberianum Webb & Berth., a high-alpine species from Tenerife with perennial roots but annual inflorescences, are included here.

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