Macroevolution of panicoid inflorescences: a history of contingency and order of trait acquisition

REINHEIMER RENATA,; ABELARDO VEGETTI; RUA, GABRIEL

ANNALS OF BOTANY

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2013 vol. 112 p. 1613 - 1628

0305-7364

Inflorescence forms of panicoid grasses (Panicoideae s.s.) are remarkably diverse and they look very labile to human eyes; however, when performing a close inspection one can identify just a small subset of inflorescence types among a huge morphospace of possibilities. Consequently, some evolutionary constraints have restricted, to some extent, the diversification of their inflorescence. Developmental and genetic mechanisms, the photosynthetic type and plant longevity have been postulated as candidate constraints for angiosperms and panicoids in particular; however, it is not clear how these factors operate and which of these have played a key role during the grass inflorescence evolution. To gain insight into this matter the macroevolutionary aspects of panicoid inflorescences are investigated.