anatomia do lenho e dendrocronologia de lianas da família ...

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ABSTRACT
(Wood anatomy of eight liana species of Leguminosae family from Atlantic Rain Forest).
Lianas are important structural component of tropical forests and even though the anatomy of
these plants is poorly studied. Leguminosae family is reported as the second larger family in
number of liana species, but little is know about the anatomical diversity of lianas from this
family. The present study described and analyzed the wood anatomy of eighth liana species of
Leguminosae family, from Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, located in Rio de Janeiro State,
Southeast region of Brazil and included in Atlantic Rain Forest Biome. The species show
common features with the liana habit, as: wide vessels, vessel dimorphism, and high
proportion of parenchyma when compared with fibers. Four species of Senegalia genus
showed cambial variants made by a single cambium, normal in products but abnormal in
conformation. The studied species have similar wood anatomy, many of which are because
they belong to the same family and share the same habit. Nevertheless, the eight species
studied could be distinguished. The species with cambial variants and Dalbergia frutescens
are easy distinguished from the others. However Senegalia tenuifolia, Piptadenia
micracantha and Piptadenia adiantoides require much wariness examination to identify the
species exclusively by wood anatomical features.
Key words: Wood anatomy, lianas, Atlantic Rain Forest, Leguminosae