Seed morphology and testa sculptures of some Allium L. species (Alliaceae)

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the study on seed morphology of eight following <i>Allium</i> species: <i>A. pyrenaicum</i> Costa & Vayr., <i>A. rotundum</i> L., <i>A. sphaerocephalon</i> L., <i>A. vineale</i> L., <i>A. moly</i> L., <i>A. karataviense</i> Regel, <i>A. fistulosum</i> L. and <i>A. nutans</i> L. The study confirmed the substantial diversity in testa characters, especially curvature and relief of anticlinal walls as well as microsculpture of outer periclinal walls. The occurrence of raised anticlinal walls - an unusually rare feature in <i>Allium</i> seeds, previously observed only in a few species, was found in <i>A. karataviense</i>. It was also found that the testa type in <i>A. pyrenaicum</i> did not match the typical character combination, described before for subg. <i>Allium</i> sect. <i>Allium</i>.