Abstract.
An evolutionary pathway leading to acrotonous, 2-flowered spikelets of Panicoideae has been suggested elsewhere, which involves apical reduction of many-flowered mesotonic spikelets. Current phylogenies of the grass family show a sister relationship between Panicoideae and Centothecoideae. A survey of spikelet structures occurring among centothecoid grasses shows that some representatives of this group have intermediate morphologies which are consistent with that hypothesis. Chasmanthium and Bromuniola have many-flowered spikelets with a barren proximal floret, whereas Thysanolaena, Gouldochloa and Gynerium represent a series of apical reductions leading to 2-flowered spikelets. Moreover, many-flowered spikelets with 1-3 proximal male flowers followed by several female-fertile ones occur in Puelioideae, one of the early-diverging clades of the Poaceae. This fact suggests that some “panicoid” characters may have evolved long before the radiation of the Panicoideae took place.
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I am grateful to J. G. Sánchez-Ken for valuable comments on the manuscript, and to J. Cámara-Hernández and R. D. Tortosa for critical review. I am also indebted to the curators of BAA, K, and SI for making the herbarium material available. This research was supported by the grant UBACyT AG-027, from the Buenos Aires University.
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Rua, G. Centothecoid grasses and the evolution of panicoid spikelets. Plant Syst. Evol. 240, 83–89 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-003-0017-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-003-0017-y