Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Palynological insights of the eastern Asian and eastern North American disjunct genus Symplocarpus (Araceae)

  • Regular Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Plant Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Symplocarpus L. (Araceae) is a disjunct genus including S. foetidus (L.) Nutt. var. latissimus (Makino) S. Hara, S. nipponicus Makino, and S. nabekuraensis Otsuka & K. Inoue in temperate eastern Asia; S. egorovii N. S. Pavlova & V. A. Nechaev in the Russian far east; and S. foetidus (L.) Nutt. in temperate northeastern North America. For the first time, pollen morphology of Symplocarpus was investigated by light and scanning electron microscopes. Symplocarpus foetidus var. latissimus and S. foetidus had reticulate surfaces and rounded (obtuse), long, equatorial axis tips, whereas S. nipponicus had microreticulate surfaces and acute tips. Symplocarpus foetidus in North America had larger pollen grains than S.foetidus var. latissimus in eastern Asia. Thus, based on pollen characteristics, S. foetidus var. latissimus is more closely related to S. foetidus than to S. nipponicus. Other lines of evidence, such as molecular phylogenetic studies and phenology, support the phylogenetic relationships among these species proposed in this study. The slightly modified acetolysis procedure conducted in this paper is a promising application to study weak exine or exineless pollen grains.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbott HG, Quink TF (1970) Ecology of eastern white pine seed caches made by small forest mammals. Ecology 51:271–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bredenkamp CL, Hamilton-Attwell VL (1988) A filter technique for preparing pollen for scanning electron microscopy. Pollen Spores 30:89–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Erdtman G (1966) Pollen morphology and plant taxonomy: angiosperms. Hafner Publishing Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Furness CA, Rudall PA (1999) Inaperturate pollen in monocotyledons. Int J Plant Sci 160:395–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halbritter H, Schneider H, Weber M (2000 onwards) Lysichiton americanus. In: Buchner R and Weber M (eds) PalDat—a palynological database: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. http://www.paldat.org/

  • Hen L (1979) Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae. Inst Bot Kummingense Acad Sin 13:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesse M, Weber M, Halbritter HM (1999) Pollen walls of Araceae, with special reference to their fossilization potential. Grana 38:203–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hesse M, Bogner J, Halbritter HM, Weber M (2001) Palynology of the perigoniate Aroideae: Zamioculcas, Gonatopus and Stylochaeton (Araceae). Grana 40:26–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoedrege C (2000) Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). In context. Nat Inst 4:12–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Hong SP, Son JC (2003) Pollination of Symplocarpus renifolius Schott ex Miquel (Araceae) in Korea. Korean J Plant Taxon 33:165–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins DM (1967) The Bering land bridge. Standford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Ito K, Ito T, Onda Y, Umeura M (2004) Temperature-triggered periodical thermogenic oscillations in skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). Plant Cell Physiol 45:257–264

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen TS (1985) Seed-seed predator interactions of European beech, Fagus silvatica and forest rodents, Clethrionomys glareolus and Apodemus flavicollis. Oikos 44:149–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji SD (1989) Evolutionary changes in the aperture and exine structure of angiosperm pollen. M. E. thesis, Department of Biological Education, Graduate School of Education, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul

  • Kitano S, Otsuka K, Uesugi R, Goka K (2005) Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus Symplocarpus (Araceae) from Japan based on chloroplast DNA sequences. J Jpn Bot 80:334–339

    Google Scholar 

  • Knutson RM (1974) Heat production and temperature regulation in eastern skunk cabbage. Science 186:746–747

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koyama T (1984) Araceae. In: Ohwi J (ed) Flora of Japan. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., pp 255–264

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee ST (1978) A factor analysis study of the functional significance of angiosperm pollen. Syst Bot 3:1–19

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee WT (1996a) Lineamenta florae Koreae. Academy Publishing Company, Seoul, p 1436

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee WT (1996b) Standard illustrations of Korean plants. Academy Publishing Company, Seoul, p 447

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee TB (1999) Illustrated flora of Korea. Hyangmoonsa, Seoul, p 183

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee TB (2003) Coloured flora of Korea (II). Hyangmoonsa, Seoul, p 637

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee YN (2006) New flora of Korea (II). Hakmoonsa, Seoul, p 601

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee ST, Kim MY (1987) Palynological study of some Lycoris species (Amaryllidaceae). Korean J Plant Taxon 17:147–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee ST, Kim JG, Hong SP (1985) Pollen surface pattern and its taxonomic significance of the Korean Polygonaceae pollen. Korean J Plant Taxon 15:37–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch SP, Webster GL (1975) A new technique of preparing pollen for scanning electron microscopy. Grana 15:127–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Miyaki M, Kikuzawa K (1988) Dispersal of Quercus mongolica acorns in a broadleaved deciduous forest. 2. Scatter hoarding by mice. For Ecol Manage 25:9–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nasri-Ayachi MB, Nabli MA (1995) Pollen wall ultrastructure and ontogeny in Ziziphus lotus L (Rhamnaceae). Rev Paleobot Palynol 85:85–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nie ZH, Sun H, Li H, Wen J (2006) Intercontinental biogeography of subfamily Orontioideae (Symplocarpus, Lysichiton, and Orontium) of Araceae in eastern Asia and North America. Mol Phylogenet Evol 40:155–165

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Osborn JM, El-Ghazaly G, Cooper RL (2001) Development of the exineless pollen wall in Callitriche truncata (Callitrichaceae) and the evolution of underwater pollination. Plant Syst Evol 228:81–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otsuka K, Watanabe R, Inoue K (2002) A new species of Symplocarpus (Araceae) from Nagano Prefecture, Central Japan. J Jpn Bot 77:96–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavlova NS, Nechaev VA (2005) A new species of the genus Symplocarpus (Araceae) from the southern Russian Far East. Botanicheskii Zhurnal 90:753–758

    Google Scholar 

  • Price MV, Jenkins SH (1986) Rodents as seed consumers and dispersers. In: Murray DR (ed) Seed dispersal. Academic Press, Sydney, pp 191–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Punt W, Blackmore S, Nilsson S, Le Thomas A (1994) Glossary of pollen and spore terminology. LPP contributions Ser. 1. LPP Foundation, Utrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowley JR, Skvarla JJ, Chissoe WF (1997) Exine, onciform zone and intine structure in Ravenaia and Phenakospermum and early development in Strelitzia and Phenakospermum (Strelitziaceae) based on aborted microspores. Rev Paleobot Palynol 98:293–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shishkin BK (1985) Flora of the U.S.S.R, vol 3. Koeltz Scientific Books, Germany, pp 379–382

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith GF, Tiedt LR (1991) A rapid, non-destructive osmium tetroxide technique for preparing pollen for scanning electron microscopy. Taxon 40:195–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone DE, Sellers SC, Cress WJ (1979) Ontogeny of exineless pollen in Heliconia, a banana relative. Ann Mo Bot Gard 66:701–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Ham R, Grob G, Hetterscheid W, Star W, Van Heuven B (2005) Notes on the genus Amorphophallus (Araceae)—13 evolution of pollen ornamentation and ultrastructure in Amorphophallus and Pedudodracontium. Grana 44:252–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada N, Uemura S (1994) Seed dispersal and predation by small rodents on the herbaceous understory plant Symplocarpus renifolius. Am Midl Nat 132:320–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada N, Uemura S (2000) Size-dependent flowering behavior and heat production of a sequential hermaphrodite, Symplocarpus renifolius (Araceae). Am J Bot 87:1489–1494

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walker JW (1971) Pollen morphology, phytogeography and phylogeny of the Annonaceae. Contrib Gray Herb 202:1–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker JW (1974) Evolution of exine structure in the pollen of primitive angiosperms. Am J Bot 61:891–902

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker JW, Doyle JA (1975) The bases of angiosperm phylogeny: palynology. Ann Mo Bot Gard 62:664–723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber M, Halbritter H, Hesse M (1998) The spiny pollen wall in Sauromatum (Araceae)—with special reference to the endexine. Int J Plant Sci 159:744–749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber M, Halbritter H, Hesse M (1999) The basic pollen wall types in Araceae. Int J Plant Sci 160:415–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wen J, Jansen RK, Kilgore K (1996) Evolution of the eastern Asian and eastern North American disjunct genus Symplocarpus (Araceae): insights from chloroplast DNA restriction site data. Biochem Syst Ecol 24:735–747

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zavada MS (1990) A contribution to the study of pollen wall ultrastructure of orchid pollinia. Ann Mo Bot Gard 77:785–801

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zetter R, Hesse M, Frosch-Radivo A (2001) Early Eocene zona-aperturate pollen grains of the Proxapertites type with affinity to Araceae. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 117:267–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are especially indebted to the curators of KWNU, SNUA, and HUH. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions on the earlier version of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan

    Sangryong Lee

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, 300 Cheoncheon-Dong, Suwon, Gyeonggi-Do, 440-746, Korea

    Sangtae Lee, Kyeongin Heo & Seung-Chul Kim

Authors
  1. Sangryong Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sangtae Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kyeongin Heo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Seung-Chul Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seung-Chul Kim.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lee, S., Lee, S., Heo, K. et al. Palynological insights of the eastern Asian and eastern North American disjunct genus Symplocarpus (Araceae). J Plant Res 123, 723–729 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-010-0324-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-010-0324-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation