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Morphology and anatomy of palm seedlings

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Abstract

A historical survey of studies of seedling morphology and anatomy in the palm family is given. The traditional three germination types—adjacent ligular, remote ligular, and remote tubular—that have been commonly recognized are reevaluated. The study includes seedlings of 63 species, representing the six subfamilies of palms. Morphological characteristics of germination patterns and the anatomy of the eophyll are described. The results of this survey show that germination types determined by the length of the hyperphyll (cotyledonary petiole) are not completely valid. Instead, a combination of characters such as primary root orientation, coleoptile length, number of cataphylls, and eophyll plication correspond to the most recent classification of the family, and represent a better way of describing germination.

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  1. Natural Sciences Department, Hostos Community College of the City University of New York, 500 Grand Concourse Bronx, 10451, New York, USA

    Flor M. Henderson

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  1. Flor M. Henderson
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Correspondence to Flor M. Henderson.

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Henderson, F.M. Morphology and anatomy of palm seedlings. Bot. Rev 72, 273–329 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1663/0006-8101(2006)72[273:MAAOPS]2.0.CO;2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1663/0006-8101(2006)72[273:MAAOPS]2.0.CO;2

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