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Seed coat anatomy ofCeratozamia mexicana (Cycadales)

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Abstract

The seed coat furnishes protection with a thick cuticle, tannin cells, mucilage, and a hard sclerotesta. The external layer of the seed coat is a sarcotesta; a thick cuticle covers the external walls of its epidermal cells. This epidermis bears stomates and, in the early stages, trichomes. The subepidermal cells have druses. Starch grains are abundant in the sarcotesta from June through August, but they disappear during dispersal in September. The parenchyma is interrupted by mucilage canals lined by epithelial cells. Tannin cells are found in the sarcotesta, sclerotesta, and pachychalaza. Ten sectors of an areole in the sclerotesta around the micropyle may correspond to the tips of the integumentary segments in some fossil plants, such asGenomosperma kidstonii.

Resumen

La cubierta seminal le imparte protección a la semilla mediante una cutícula gruesa, células de taninos, mucílago, y una esclerotesta dura. La capa externa de la cubierta seminal es la sarcotesta; una cutícula gruesa cubre las paredes externas de las células epidérmicas. Esta epidermis presenta estomas y, en etapas tempranas, tricomas. Cuando la esclerotesta se endurece, los tricomas desaparecen. Las células subepidérmicas presentan drusas. En la sarcotesta los granos de almidón son abundantes desde junio hasta agosto, pero desaparecen durante la dispersión en septiembre. El parénquima se interrumpe por canales de mucílago forrados por células epiteliales. Las células de taninos se encuentran en la sarcotesta, esclerotesta, y paquicálaza. Diez sectores de una areola en la esclerotesta alrededor del micrópilo podrían corresponder a los apéndices del tegumento en algunas plantas fósiles, comoGenomosperma kidstonii.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Veracruzana, CP-91000, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    María Ydelia SÁnchez-Tinoco

  2. Colegio de Postgraduados, IRENAT, CP-56230, Montecillo, Texcoco, Mexico

    E. Mark Engleman (Especialidad de Botánica)

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  1. María Ydelia SÁnchez-Tinoco
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  2. E. Mark Engleman
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SÁnchez-Tinoco, M.Y., Engleman, E.M. Seed coat anatomy ofCeratozamia mexicana (Cycadales). Bot. Rev 70, 24–38 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1663/0006-8101(2004)070[0024:SCAOCM]2.0.CO;2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1663/0006-8101(2004)070[0024:SCAOCM]2.0.CO;2

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