Abstract.
We have investigated the floral ontogeny of Arillastrum, Allosyncarpia, Stockwellia and Eucalyptopsis (of the eucalypt group, Myrtaceae) using scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. Several critical characters for establishing relationships between these genera and to the eucalypts have been determined. The absence of compound petaline primordia in Arillastrum, Allosyncarpia, Stockwellia and Eucalyptopsis excludes these taxa from the eucalypt clade. Post-anthesis circumscissile abscission of the hypanthium above the ovary in Stockwellia, Eucalyptopsis and Allosyncarpia is evidence that these three taxa form a monophyletic group; undifferentiated perianth parts and elongated fusiform buds are characters that unite Stockwellia and Eucalyptopsis as sister taxa. No floral characters clearly associate Arillastrum with either the eucalypt clade or the clade of Stockwellia, Eucalyptopsis and Allosyncarpia.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
We gratefully acknowledge Clyde Dunlop and Bob Harwood (Northern Territory Herbarium) for collecting specimens of Allosyncarpia, and Bruce Gray (Atherton) for collecting specimens of Stockwellia. The Australian National Herbarium (CANB) kindly lent herbarium specimens of Eucalyptopsis for examination. This research was supported by a University of Melbourne Research Development Grant to Andrew Drinnan.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bohte, A., Drinnan, A. Floral development and systematic position of Arillastrum, Allosyncarpia, Stockwellia and Eucalyptopsis (Myrtaceae). Plant Syst. Evol. 251, 53–70 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-004-0161-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-004-0161-z