Abstracts, XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy) , 9-15

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XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy), 9-15 September 2013 Morphometric and reproductive variation in the strict endemic Helichrysum melitense (Asteraceae) in Gozo, Malta XIBERRAS J., LANFRANCO S. Department of Biology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta. E-mail: sandro.lanfranco@um.edu.mt The aim of this study was to characterise the distribution, leaf-morphological amplitude and reproductive effort of the strict island endemic Helichrysum melitense (Pignatti) Brullo, Lanfranco, Pavone & Ronsisvalle (Asteraceae) in Gozo, Malta. This species is restricted to the coastal fringe of Western Gozo and was rarely observed further inland. Five main sub-populations, those at Ponta tal-Wardija, Tal-Port, Fuq il-Qawra, Ta’ Slima and at Il-Ponta ta’ Hekka, were recorded and surveyed. A total of 983 plants were investigated. The largest sub-population was that at Tal-Port (364 individuals) whilst the smallest was the one at Il-Ponta ta’ Hekka (30 individuals). The plant has very low fertility. Out of 4877 flowers that were dissected, 2836 had not set seed, and only a small proportion (7.23%) of the seeds that formed were found to be potentially viable. Despite the low seed production, the overall population size has not been observed to diminish over the past thirty years, suggesting that this low reproductive rate may nonetheless represent replacement level for the species. Variation in leaf morphometry (leaf length, leaf width and leaf area) was investigated across the five main sub-populations. The sub-population at Il-Ponta tal-Wardija and Ta’ Slima had long and narrow leaves, those at Fuq il-Qawra and Tal-Port had short and narrow leaves while the smallest sub-population at Il-Ponta ta’ Hekka had very long and broad leaves. Variations in leaf morphometry within and across sub-populations showed low, non-significant correlation with environmental factors and thus were attributed to intrapopulation variation. Comparison of leaf morphometry between H. melitense and Helichrysum rupestre, (within which the Gozo populations were originally placed by Pignatti) showed a statistically-significant difference on the basis of leaf width. This does not confirm whether H. melitense is a distinct species or not, as leaf morphometry is highly variable across the genus Helichrysum. 155
XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy), 9-15 September 2013 Seed morphology of Orobanchaceae genera from Turkey, and their systematic significance ZARE G., DÖNMEZ A. A. Department of Biology, Faculty of science, University of Hacettepe, Ankara, Turkey. E-mail: golshanzare@gmail.com; donmez@hacettepe.edu.tr The family Orobanchaceae Vent. comprising a morphologically diverse hemiparasitic and holoparasitic genera represented with 16 genera in Turkey. These genera are mainly distributed throughout the subtropical and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and the Mediterranean region is one of the diversity centers of the family. A comprehensive morphological study was carried out on the seeds of some (12) genera from Orobanchaceae. Our results indicated that the use of seed morphology characters have a great importance, particularly in Orobanchaceae, which possesses a much reduced vegetative growth and consequently provides few vegetative characters for taxonomic purposes. According to our results, the most useful seed features in identification of taxa were the shape, size and seed-coat ornamentation of the seeds. The morphology of the seed coat provides a set of useful characters, and the tribe Orobancheae with polygonal cell is clearly separated from the tribe Rhinantheae. Features of the tangential wall in the epidermal cells of the seeds of the tribe Orobancheae genera allow us to establish different groups in generic level. In the tribe Rhinantheae based on presence of wings, and other characters of the epidermal seed coat cells 3 groups recognised. Rhinanthus with winged seed, Melampyrum with smooth seed surface, Bartsia, Bornmuellerantha, Parentucellia, Odontites, Pedicularis and Lathrea with reticulate pattern constitute 3 different groups. The majority of the examined genera have light or very small seeds but some of them produce larger seeds. The systematic utility of characteristics of these plant structures is discussed in order to determine relationships among the different genera included in this family. A dichotomous identification key was presented along with seed descriptions, measurements and morphological details, LM photos and SEM micrographs. 156
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Abstracts, XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy) , 9-15

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