Significance of seed trichome micro-morphology in systematic treatment of Abelmoschus-Hibiscus complex

Published on May 02, 2020 07:58 AM

Indian sub-continent is rich in genetic diversity of various

species of genus Abelmoschus and Hibiscus. Several of

these species exist in wild, semi-wild and cultivated forms

due to favorable eco-geographical conditions. Seed

morphology (especially trichome structure) of Malvaceae

members is known to be diverse, but variation patterns

have never been critically studied in these complex genera.

In the present paper usefulness of this important character

for the generic differentiation between Abelmoschus (13

species) andHibiscus (10 species) using scanning electron

microscopy of seed has been described. Primary generic

differentiation has been derived using basic seed trichome

morphology i.e. unicellular (un-fused) and multi-cellular

(fused) which was spiral or nonâ€“spiral, spread evenly or

localized in all the studied taxa. The presence of unicellular

and un-fused trichomes on seed coat surface in the

Abelmoschus species provides an additional and significant

micro-morphological differentiation to delineate the

boundaries between genus Abelmoschus and Hibiscus.

Keywords: Abelmoschus, generic differentiation, Hibiscus, micro-morphology, seed trichome, SEM, Abelmoschus-Hibiscus complex

Year: 2020
Volume: 80
Issue: 1
Article DOI: 10.31742/IJGPB.80.1.10
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906

Pravin Patil, S. K. Malik and K. V. Bhat