Summary
The seed morphologies of forty-five Eriocaulon species and infraspecies in Thailand are described in detail. Characteristics of the seed were carefully investigated via LM and SEM, including shape, size, shapes of both ends and colour. Details of the seed coat, testa cell shape, axis of elongation, alignment, ridges formed where adjacent cells are in contact, surface ornamentation and the presence and morphology of appendages arising from the cell walls, were all recorded. Combinations of these characters are effective for species delimitation and identification. Similarities in seed coat characters and the relationships of floral structure between closely related taxa are discussed. Hygroscopic seed coat appendages are recorded and described for Eriocaulon for the first time.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the curators of the herbaria at BK, BKF and KKU for the loan of specimens while Amornrat Prajaksood was at Trinity College Dublin. This project was financially supported by the Research Capability Enhancement Program, through a graduate student scholarship, and the Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University (SCG-2019-2), to Benja Wantongsuk. It was also supported by a research studentship from Trinity College Dublin, September 2001 – September 2004 and a grant from the Research and Graduate Studies fund, Khon Kaen University, to Amornrat Prajaksood. The authors thank Miss Sirinan Khorngton and Miss Nikoletta Darányi for freely providing some of the SEM images.
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Wantongsuk, B., Parnell, J.A.N. & Prajaksood, A. Seed morphology of Eriocaulon (Eriocaulaceae) in Thailand. Kew Bull (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-023-10161-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-023-10161-5