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Fruit, Seed and Seedling Characters in Jatropha L.

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Abstract

The fruit, seed, caruncle and seedling characters of Jatropha species are reviewed. The capsule shape and size varies considerably with ridges and furrows of various depths in different species while in some species the fruits are glabtous. The pericarp characters under light and scanning electron microscope are also described for nine species. The seed and caruncle size and shape also show considerable variation from species to species. SEM studies of these structures in the species studied showed diversity in structure and hence, are of taxonomic value. The seed shape as also the seed colour and testa are variously ornamented with mottling pattern, with vertical stripes often with a median ridge on the ventral side. Testa (spermoderm) microcharacters of some Indian Jatropha species exhibit various patterns that are taxonomically useful. Seedling characters in some species studied are of two types with three or five major cotyledon veins. The role of caruncle in seed dispersal (mymechory) is also discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the concerned for permitting us to reproduce seed images of J. scaposa, J. subinequalis, J. aconitifolia and J. mahafelensis (http/:flickerhuemind.net Tags Mozambique) and other internet sources.

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Correspondence to G. V. S. Murthy or Bir Bahadur .

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Murthy, G.V.S., Chamundeswari, E., Goverdhen, S., Bahadur, B. (2013). Fruit, Seed and Seedling Characters in Jatropha L.. In: Bahadur, B., Sujatha, M., Carels, N. (eds) Jatropha, Challenges for a New Energy Crop. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4915-7_7

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