The nearly forgotten art of comparative plant anatomy 2. Palm Fruits

Palm fruits are mostly single-seeded drupes, brightly colored
to attract birds or other animals for dispersal.  The large, hard,
seeds either pass unharmed through the digestive system
or are dropped to the ground as the fleshy pericarp is eaten.

From my brief introduction in "Everything you wanted to know about plant cells but were afraid to ask," you know that sclerenchyma is a collection of cells types characterized by the possession of a thick, rigid, secondary wall.  In the first part of this current series, I showed how sclerenchyma, along with other cell types, contribute to the complex and highly useful material we call wood.

Palm fruits may seem like an odd place to look for sclerenchyma, but I discovered early in my career as a plant taxonomist specializing in palms, that not only are such cell types present, but they are also highly varied in type and arrangement.  They represent an excellent case study for the usefulness of comparative plant anatomy.

One of the functions of sclerenchyma in general is to protect plant tissues from vegetation-chomping animals, and fruits are one of the most vulnerable of plant organs.  Fruits, and the seeds within, fill up with valuable nutrients as they mature.  The seeds must obviously be protected until they can be dispersed and have a chance to produce the next generation.  Fruits, however, are often meant to be eaten as part of that dispersal, but not until the seeds are mature.  So unripe fruits must be protected until then, but must become palatable, sometimes quickly and dramatically, at maturity.

The first layer of defense for the large seed within a palm fruit is something called the locular epidermis.  This is actually the interior epidermis of the  carpel that surrounds the seed proper.  In this layer, the cells often elongate perpendicular to the fruit wall, become pillar-like, closely-packed sclereids as the fruit matures.  Similar layers of cells have independently evolved in the seed coats of legumes.

A well-developed locular epidermis is common among palms of the subtribe Areceae (the large, advanced group that includes the betel nut, Areca catechu), but is quite varied in thickness,  even within genera.  Where it is not present, other forms of sclerenchyma take its place.

Another type of sclerenchyma found in palm fruits consists of individual cells resembling grains of sand, called brachysclereids or stone cells.  Those found in palms are similar to the gritty patches of stone cells found just below the epidermis in pear fruits.  Stone cells may be scattered within parenchyma tissue, grouped in clusters, or found in continuous layers.

In a great many palm fruits, there are also many fibrous bundles, consisting of  narrow, thick-walled fiber cells. As is generally true in vascular plants, fibers occur mostly around strands of vascular tissue (xylem and phloem), as protection for those tissues.  When additional protective functions (as in palm fruits) or supportive functions (i.e. in wood or the fibrous stems of palms and bamboos) are present, the volume of fibrous tissue can become massive and far in excess of what is needed to protect the vascular tissues. 

The fruits of Rhopaloblase ceramica have a very thick locular epidermis (bottom layer), consisting of elongate, pillar-like sclereids, packed tightly together. Above that, are three tiers of massive fibrous bundles that form around vascular tissues. In a band below the outer epidermis, are scattered stone cells (brachysclerieds), stained a purplish red. The very dark tissues present contain tannins.

Often intermixed with the fibrous vascular bundles close to the seed is a tissue with the seemingly oxymoronic name of sclerified parenchyma.  This is a region that begins as normal parenchyma in the young fruit, but become "sclerified" (develop secondary walls) as the fruit reaches its full size. In some of my earlier papers, I referred to this as "sclerified ground tissue," but that was too vague, as there are other forms of sclerenchyma in the ground tissue. (Ground tissue refers to the tissue  that fills the interior of leaves, stems, roots, and fruits, and consists mostly of parenchyma.

In the most specialized of the bird-dispersed palm fruits, we can usually see three distinct zones:

Close to the seed, we find densely packed fibrous bundles, sclerified parenchyma, and often a thickened locular epidermis. These hard tissues are typically fused together into a solid endocarp, or pit, which  remains with the seed when the rest of the fruit is removed.  This helps prevent the crushing of the seed when the fruit is eaten, or its penetration by burrowing insects.

Below the outer epidermis, one can often see an exocarp, a layer of stone cells, cells filled with bitter tannins, and sometimes fibrous bundles that protect against insect penetration.  Stone cells, which occur individually or in small patches, are particularly advantageous in this outer fruit region because they can loosen and separate as the fruit expands.  This allows the fruit to swell as it ripens, becoming more succulent.

Between these outer and inner protective layers, is the larger expanse of tissue referred to as the mesocarp.  This middle region may also be filled with fibrous bundles (the fibrous outer husk of the coconut being an extreme example), but in many specialized fruits it has been cleared of hard tissues, and consists only of soft parenchyma, which can swell as the fruit ripens, becoming fleshy, tasty and nutritious.  Such fruits presumably provide the most food for birds that feed upon them, and so  have a selective advantage.

Such well-defined zones are particularly conspicuous in the Ptychosperma alliance, which I studied as a graduate student.  In this group of palms native to New Guinea, Australia and some Pacific islands, another extraordinary transformation has taken place: the evolution of two radically different kinds of fibrous bundles, one occupying the endocarp, the other occupying the exocarp.

In Heterospathe, "naked" bundles of vascular
tissue are at the bottom, close to the seed, while
bundles further out contain only fibers.

The starting point for this trend can be seen in some palms outside of the Ptychosperma alliance, such as the Rhopaloblaste illustrated above, in which only the inner vascular bundles have a significant amount of vascular tissue, while the outermost bundles have a token amount, if any, and consist mostly of fibers. In the Heterospathe illustrated to the left, fibrous bundles without any vascular tissue are scattered throughout the mesocarp.

In the short spurs of fibers
in Orania, bits of
vascular tissue (ladder-like
protoxylem element in center)
can be found, illustrating the
role procambia in forming
fibrous bundles.

As another example, in the genus Orania, there are short, brush-like bundles of fibers that arise perpendicular to naked vascular bundles. They appear at first to be purely fibrous, but occasionally one can find a trace of mature vascular tissue within them.  This suggests that all fibrous bundles begin with a strand of embryonic vascular tissue (a procambium) as the organizational stimulus, but in specialized bundles, vascular tissues may or may not mature.

In Veitchia, inner bundles contain small
strands of vascular tissue (white spots)
and thick fibrous sheaths. Bundles in the
outer half of the fruit are purely fibrous.
Legend applies to all the diagrams.

In Veitchia, the outer fibrous bundles
are elongate and parallel with the
surface, but can separate from one
another as the fruit expands.

In the least specialized members of the Ptychosperma alliance, such Veitchia and Normanbya, fibrous bundles have already been separated into two distinct groups, the inner bundles have at least some vascular tissue and form an interconnected network, while the outer bundles are devoid of vascular tissue altogether, and become disconnected from one another as the fruit expands.

In the remaining genera of the Ptychosperma alliance, the outer fibrous bundles have become quite short and clearly separate from one another.  They are confined to the exocarp and are mixed with the brachysclereids.  Variation on the arrangement of tissues, however, is significant, and can be used to identify the different genera.  Some examples are below, but so that this post won't get too long, I refer you to my original paper on the Ptychosperma alliance, for more details. Similar trends can be seen in the other alliances of the subtribe Areceae, also with distinctive arrangements in different genera, and papers on those can be accessed through my general list of publications.

In Ptychosperma and other advanced genera, inner
fruit tissues follow the distinctive grooves
of the seed. The outer fibrous bundles are small,
short, and perpendicular to the surface. 

In Ptychosperma, outer fibrous bundles are short
and perpendicular to the surface. Brachysclereids
fill in between them.

An isolated  outer fibrous bundle from
Brassiophoenix.

The large fruits of Ptychococcus have an
exceptionally thick, hard endocarp,
consisting of a thick locular epidermis, a
massive layer of sclerified parenchyma, and
a mantle of fibers formed from the fusion of
adjacent fibrous vascular bundles. Short
fibrous bundles also mingle with
brachysclereids in the exocarp.

The fruits of Brassiophoenix have an angular
endocarp, like that of Ptychococcus, but with
the fibrous vascular bundles embedded within
the sclerified parenchyma.

Mosses of Central Florida 29. Plagiomnium cuspidatum

Plagiomnium cuspidatum

The upright stems with broad ovate leaves and nodding
capsules of Plagiomnium cuspidatum suggest a species
of the Bryaceae until one takes a closer look.
Photo by Robert A. Klips, Ohio Moss and Lichen
Association

(Hedwig) T. J. Koponen (Mniaceae)forms mats on moist soil, on rotting logs, or at the bases of trees in moist habitats, and has two forms of leafy stems; creeping sterile stems, and upright fertile stems.  Our local material appears to be all sterile, however.

The most distinctive characteristic of this species is its ovate to diamond-shaped leaf with a prominent midrib and conspicuous, narrow, sharp teeth in the upper half.  The leaf base is broad and clasps the stem.  The leaf cells are roundish, with thick, translucent walls. The leaves are twisted when dry.  The nodding, cylindrical to ovate capsules arise on elongate stalks from erect leafy stems.

The leaf of Plagiomnium cuspidatum  resembles that of a Bryum, 
but with many long, narrow teeth along the edge in the upper half.
Photo courtesy the Western New Mexico University
Department of Natural Sciences and the Dale A. Zimmerman
Herbarium,, Plants of the Gila Wilderness.

The nodding capsules are a plump, ovate-
cylindrric. Photo by Robert A. Klips, Ohio 
Moss and Lichen Association

This species, often filed under the older name of Mnium cuspidatum, is widespread in North America, even reaching Alaska and Greenland, and in Florida it is found from the panhandle to Miami-Dade County. Two other species are found in the state: P. ciliare only in the panhandle, and P. floridanum throughout the northern half of the state.  In P. ciliare the marginal teeth typically extend down toward the base, rather than just the upper half, and these are usually blunt.  P. floridium is nearly  indistinguishable, but the leaves more elliptical and with less flaring leaf bases.

The prominent, narrow teeth arise from a thickened border of rigid cells.  To the inside, cells are small, rounded, and thick-walled.  Photo from Wikimedia Commons,  licensed by Creative Commons..

This upright, fertile stems of this species might also be confused with members of the Bryaceae, such as Bryum argenteum, or Rosulabryum capillare, which also have broad leaves with a strong costa and nodding capsules, but their leaves do not have prominent teeth and their cells are much larger and more elongate.
.

Mosses of Central Florida 28. Climacium americanum

The branching, tree-like form of Climacium americanum, and the
cylindrical, upright spore capsules, distinguish this species from
others. Photo courtesy Robert A. Klips, 
Ohio Moss and Lichen Association.

Climacium americanum Bridel (Climaciaceae) is a distinctive moss with a "tree-like" shape, and often of a yellow-green color.  It has upright stems that branch out into a number of spreading, leafy branches. It occurs in our area in wet habitats, most often on decaying logs in cypress swamps, but elsewhere in damp soil along rivers or marshy depressions.

In Florida, this species is distributed from the northern counties southward to Manatee County, with some records from Broward and Monroe counties.  It also occurs widely northward in the eastern U.S. and Canada, the Rocky Mountains,  Pacific Northwest, and Alaska.

The leaf has a distinct midrib, which tapers out just short of the leaf tip, jagged teeth in the upper part, a broad, spreading base without inflated cells, and cells that are "worm-like" (elongate,  tapered, and slightly wavy). Between the leaves are many branching, thread-like appendages called paraphyllia.

The broad leaf base and tapered tip of the leaf of Climacium 
americanum give it a triangular shape. Photo courtesy Robert A. 
Klips, Ohio Moss and Lichen Association/.

The spore capsules are erect, symmetrical, and narrowly cylindrical.

Although it was collected a number of times in our local Hillsborough River Basin in the 1970's, I have yet to find living specimens myself.  So I am grateful to Bob Klips of the Ohio Moss and Lichen Association for the use of his photos.

The worm-like cells of Climacium can be seen in this photo from
Wikimedia Commons of C. dendroides (not in our area). 

Mosses of Central Florida 27. Dicranella hilariana

Dicranella hilariana (Montagne) Mitten (Dicranaceae) is typically found on moist, clay banks, but appears to have adapted also to the disturbed slopes of phosphate mine pits and may be partially covered with sand.  From the related genus Dicranum, Dicranella species differ mainly in their smaller size, shorter leaves, and lack of inflated (alar) cells at the base of the leaf. Like the other genera in this family, the leaf has a massive midrib, and the cells are squarish to rectangular.

Leaves of Dicranella hilariana have a thick midrib and square to rectangular cells.

From the two other species of Dicranella occurring in central Florida, D. hilariana differs  primarily in the shape of its capsules, which are erect, symmetrical, and smooth, and in the color of the capsule stalks, which are yellow but may become somewhat reddish as they age. In D. varia the capsules are asymmetrical, somewhat bent to the side, and borne on red stalks. In D. heteromalla, the stalks are yellowish, but the capsules are nodding and  conspicuously furrowed.  

Found in a phosphate pit in Hillsborough County, this specimen of  Dicranella hilariana is partially
buried in the sand.  Note the symmetrical, smooth capsules and yellowish to reddish capsule stalks.  Latina 42 (USF)

Mosses of Central Florida 26. Dicranum condensatum

Dicranum condensatum Hedwig (Dicranaceae) grows in sandy soil throughout Florida, sometimes forming deep cushions made up of long, mostly dead stems and leaves, with green tips. The leaves along the stem are of the same size and shape and are produced indefinitely, in contrast with the related species Campylopus surinamensis.  It does produce spores, but apparently only rarely in our area.

A well-established clump of Dicranum condensatum nearly 
6 cm deep. Only the leaves in the top centimeter or so were alive 
when this specimen  was collected ( Lassiter 2077, USF)

Leaf cells of  D. condensatum are squarish-rectangular in the
upper part, and the margins of the leaf are toothed. 

Like all members of the family, the midrib (costa) of the leaf is massive, but not as broad as in Campylopus, occupying only 1/10 to 1/5 the width of the  leaf in the lower part. Leaves are mostly 3.5-4.5 mm long, and more or less curled or twisted at their tips when dry.  Cells are angular squarish near the tip, becoming more elongate toward the base, and distinctly larger and empty at the base (alar cells).

Leaves are twisted-curled when dry.

Two other species of Dicranum are found in Florida, but not as common or widespread.  D. scoparium is found in humus, rotting stumps, tree bases, and has short-sinuous leaf cells. D. flagellare, found only in north Florida, has specialized whip-like branches with short, scale-like leaves pressed to the stem that arise from the axils of ordinary leaves. The related Dicranella has much shorter leaves.  Ditrichum pallidum (Ditrichaceae) is sometimes confused with Dicranum. It grows in similar habitats, but typically has much longer leaves on shorter stems, resembling tiny clumps of grass.

Mosses of Central Florida 25. Campylopus surinamensis

Campylopus surinamensis Müller Hal. (Dicranaceae) is a hardy, desiccation-tolerant moss found in the dry, sandy soil of the Pine Flatwoods and dry roadsides.  Synonyms include C. donnelli and C. gracilicaulis.  From other members of its family, it is typically distinguished by the habit of producing shoots with two forms of leaves.  Along the lower parts of the shoot, the leaves are small, widely spaced and pressed against the stem. In the upper part of the shoot, leaves are longer, and crowded into a distinct tuft.  It apparently does not produce spores anywhere in North America, but reproduces asexually by means of small, hooked leaves produced in the axils of the main leaves.

As a colony of Campylopus surinamensis develops, some shoots form as short rosettes, but later shoots elevate their rosettes atop sparsely foliated stems. Photo of Essig 20090209-1 (USF)

The leaves are dominated by the massive midribs, that occupy about a third or more of the leaf width at the base, and nearly all of the leaf in the middle and upward into the prolonged tip.  Other members of the family have still massive, but narrower, midribs, occupying less than a third of the leaf width at the base.  The upper parts of the leaves are toothed along the margins. Leaf cells in the narrow blade region are squarish to irregular, becoming larger and more rectangular at the base. Leaves are somewhat curved but stiff when dry, not curled.

The leaves of Campylopus species are dominated by their massive midribs.

Families Matter

You probably remember from introductory biology course, that the official way of naming a species is the binomial ("two-name") system. Each species name is composed of the genus name and the specific epithet.   For example, Quercus alba is the name for the white oak.  Quercus is the genus, which contains a number of other species of oaks, and alba is the specific epithet that refers exclusively to this one species.

In almost all scientific communication and labeling practices, however, a third identification tag, the family name, is added - e.g. Quercus alba (Fagaceae). This greatly increases the utility and comprehensibility of the naming system.

The binomial system itself evolved from a fundamental human instinct to recognize categories of things, and specific types within those categories. Before Linnaeus established the formalized latin system that gave us Quercus alba, there were "white oaks, red oaks, etc. (and the equivalent in various other languages), just as there  were John Smith, William Smith, etc. Referring to just a "white" or "John," or "William," doesn't tell us much at all.

The  binomial gives some context to a name, and helps us interpret new information.  If someone describes a new species, Quercus antarctica (hypothetical) for example, we immediately know that it is another species of oak.  We can predict that it will be a woody tree or shrub with simple leaves, and that it produces acorns. The family name adds another layer of recognition and predictiveness.

Suppose, for example, someone comes into the room raving about the spectacular specimen of Trigonobalanus doichangensis she'd seen at a botanical garden in Singapore.  I myself would have stared blankly at her, having no idea what that gibberish stood for.  But then she tells me that Trigonobalanus is a genus in the family Fagaceae.  A big light bulb turns on in my head. Fagaceae is the family to which Quercus belongs, along with Castanea (chestnuts), Fagus (beeches), and several other genera. Suddenly I have an approximate idea of what this plant is.

The family name is therefore extremely valuable for recognizing, characterizing, identifying, labeling, storing, retrieving, and providing relationship context for plant specimens. Sometimes it is of more value than the genus name for providing a rough idea of what a plant is and where it fits in relationship to other plants, as in the Trigonobalanus example above. This requires, of course, some knowledge of plant families. Learning the characteristics of families is a routine part of studying plant taxonomy, but will also be highly useful to anyone with an interest in plants.  Even the use of common names like "the orchid family" or the "iris family," etc., will be helpful when communicating with a lay audience.

The taxonomic system is a hierarchy of taxonomic categories, or taxa. Genus and family are two levels of taxa.  Theoretically, we could also append the names of higher categories, like orders, classes, phyla, etc. You will find those in textbooks, but for everyday use, they would amount to information overload. We can refer casually to important higher categories, like angiosperms, gymnosperms, green algae, etc., without really worrying about their technical names or their rank (their level within the hierarchy).

In this botanical garden label, the binomial, Galium odoratum, is most prominent.  Much additional useful information is also included, but most importantly, the family name, Rubiaceae, is included, in this case at the top left.  Incidentally, purists will point out that the binomial, by convention should be italicized, but that is not always possible.  Often, the machines that make labels do not have an italic font capability.  In fact, the formatting tools for the host service under which this blog is created does not allow for italics in the title, as can be seen in my posts on moss genera.
Photo copyright Oxford University, fair use. 

Familly names for plants have been standardized with the "aceae" ending, which is attached to the name of the first named genus in the family  The Asteraceae (sunflowers, etc.) gets its name from the genus Aster.  So you'll know when you're seeing a family name.  Some older names were different, ending in "ae,"  and using a descriptive term instead of a genus name as the base.  The old name for the Asteraceae was the "Compositae," referring to the composite or compound nature of the flower heads.  You will still see these type of names in the older literature.  Some of the other common ones are "Palmae" (for Arecaceae), "Gramineae" (for Poaceae), "Leguminosae" (for Fabaceae), "Labiatae" (for Lamiaceae), "Crucferae" (for Brassicaceae) and "Umbelliferae" (for Apiaceae).

The point(s) of these remarks are several:

1. For botany instructors and students, learning the characteristics of the plant families that occur in your area, and using plant family names when labeling or referencing specimens, has a huge practical value.

2. When identifying plants, recognizing the family narrows down your search and allows you to skip over what is usually the most difficult part of a taxonomic key.

3. Referencing the plant family when writing or talking about plants puts them into a context of relationship.  The taxonomic system is not an arbitrary set of names, but reflects the natural evolutionary relationships among plants.

4. For practicing taxonomists, we need to keep in mind the practical value of maintaining a manageable number of stable families with meaningful, recognizable, distinguishing characteristics. That's not always easy, given the directive of modern phylogenetic taxonomy to reorganize plant diversity into strictly monophyletic taxa, which often requires splitting of old familiar families into smaller units, or lumping familiar families into larger families with more diverse characteristics.