Comparative morphology of Anodopetalum (Cunoniaceae)

Abstract

The vegetative and floral morphology of the Tasmanian endemic Anodopetalum biglandulosum is re-examined and illustrated. A detailed study of herbarium and fresh material identified a number of characters that have, in the past, been misinterpreted. The subsidiary cell arrangement around the stomates is brachyparacytic, and not anomocytic; the petals are shown to be notched, and not entire; the fruit is a weakly lignified, septicidally dehiscent capsule, not a berry, and the pollen is dicolporate, not tricolporate as has been previously reported. The two- and three-flowered inflorescences and solitary flowers are interpreted as a reduced cyme, while the leaf is interpreted as a unifoliolate compound leaf. The vegetative and floral morphology in Anodopetalum is compared with the closely related genera Schizomeria, Platylophus and Ceratopetalum. Features including notched/fringed petals, dicolporate pollen with a discontinuous (heterogeneous) tectum and weakly heterogeneous wood rays provide support for interpreting Anodopetalum, Schizomeria, Platylophus and Ceratopetalum as a monophyletic group. Anodopetalum differs from these genera in its strongly dehiscent fruits and winged seeds.