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Diversity and evolution of leaf anatomical characters in Taxaceae s.l.—fluorescence microscopy reveals new delimitating characters

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Abstract

Taxaceae s.l. comprise six genera (including Cephalotaxus) and about 35 species; The present study aims to give new insights into the evolution of this family, especially into the phylogenetic position of Cephalotaxus. Moreover, only little is known about comparative leaf anatomy of this family and this study aims to expose and interpret the diversity and evolution of leaf anatomical characters and to assess their applicability to identify taxa at the generic and species level. A detailed phylogeny was reconstructed, using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference, with a combined dataset of four molecular markers from the plastid and nuclear genomes. Leaf sections from 132 specimens, representing 32 species and four varieties (fresh and herbarium material) were inspected, using fluorescence microscopy. Ancestral characters were reconstructed using Mesquite. The phylogenetic analyses provided full support for Cephalotaxus as sister group to Taxaceae s.str. Within the latter, two monophyletic tribes Taxeae (comprising Austrotaxus, Pseudotaxus, and Taxus) and Torreyeae (comprising Amentotaxus and Torreya) were fully supported. Fluorescence microscopy was shown to be very useful for identifying leaf tissues and their constitution. We were able to show that particularly sclerified tissues have highest potential for the discrimination of both freshly collected samples and rehydrated herbarium specimens at the generic and species level. A correlation between the presence of different sclereid types could be shown and sclereids were hypothesized to pose a primitive trait in the evolution of Taxaceae s.l. New identification keys were generated on the basis of leaf anatomical characters. The microscopic method presented here is applicable for further studies within gymnosperms and probably in angiosperms, as well.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all botanical institutions and Botanical Gardens (BG) (Atlanta BG, Pinetum Blijdenstein, BG Bochum, BG Bonn, Plantentuin Esveld, BG Marburg, Royal BG Edinburgh, and the Jardin des Plantes Paris), as well as several private collections (Mr. Hubertus Nimsch and Mr. Albrecht Weiss) for their support in providing access to living material. Likewise, we thank the Nationaal Herbarium Nederland in Leiden and the Museum National d’ Historie Naturelle in Paris for their generous access to herbarium material.

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  1. Department for Evolution and Biodiversity of Plants, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, NDEF 05/770, 44780, Bochum, Germany

    Christoph Elpe, Thomas Stützel & Christian Schulz

  2. Botanischer Garten Rombergpark, Am Rombergpark 49b, 44225, Dortmund, Germany

    Patrick Knopf

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  1. Christoph Elpe
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Identifications keys

Identifications keys

Identification key at the genera level on the basis of fluorescence-microscopic characters

figure a

Identification key for Amentotaxus on the basis of leaf anatomical characters

figure b

Identification key for Cephalotaxus on the basis of leaf anatomical characters

figure c

Identification key for Taxus on the basis of leaf anatomical characters

figure d

Identification key for Torreya on the basis of leaf anatomical characters

figure e

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Elpe, C., Knopf, P., Stützel, T. et al. Diversity and evolution of leaf anatomical characters in Taxaceae s.l.—fluorescence microscopy reveals new delimitating characters. J Plant Res 131, 125–141 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-017-0973-x

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