Most important carpological anatomical characters in the taxonomy of Apiaceae

Abstract

Abstract Carpological anatomical characters are important in the taxonomy of Apiaceae. At present, it is necessary to include them in any critical revision of taxa of every rank, to characterize species and genera and to identify groups of related taxa. To create standardized descriptions of these taxa, we have compiled a list of taxonomically important fruit anatomical characters. This list includes 15 characters and 79 character states. Fruit anatomical characters are often constant in genera and can characterize genera or groups of closely related genera. However, the same anatomical character can occur in distant taxa. All anatomical characters are illustrated on schematic transverse sections of mericarps or in photographs.