JOURNAL ARTICLE

Foliar anatomy of Beaucarnea Lemaire (Nolinaceae ss)

Mahinda Martínez, Luis Hernández-Sandoval and Lilia Carrillo

Plant Systematics and Evolution

Vol. 300, No. 10 (December 2014), pp. 2249-2258

Published by: Springer

https://www.jstor.org/stable/43498644

Page Count: 10

Topics: Leaves, Epidermal cells, Waxes, Animal cuticle, Papillae, Vascular

bundles, Epidermis,Epicuticular wax, Mesophyll

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Abstract

Beaucarnea (Nolinaceae) is a Mexican and Guatemalan genus that inhabits dry tropical areas.
Most of the species are endangered under the Mexican legislation because they have a high
horticultural demand and are threatened by habitat destruction. Species are difficult to recognize,
since their differences are a mixture of trunk, inflorescence and fruit characters frequently absent
in herbarium specimens. The aim of this work is to describe the foliar anatomy of the 11 species of
Beaucarnea in search of characters with taxonomic value to sustain the generic subdivision, and to
provide a key for specimens determination based on leaf and growth form. We found that four
species (B. compacta, B. gracilis, B. purpusii and B. stricta) have a grooved leaf outline in
transverse section, whereas the rest of the species are undulated. Other characters, such as
epicuticular waxes, stomatal distribution and density, marginal teeth length and leaf apex provide
valuable characters for species determination.

Plant Systematics and Evolution © 2014 Springer

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