Leaf venation and secretory ducts in species of Aldama (Asteraceae)

• Grant number: 13/24051-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date until: March 01, 2014
• End date until: February 28, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Plant Morphology
• Principal Investigator: Beatriz Appezzato da Glória
• Grantee: Vanessa Bassinello
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Based on molecular analysis, was published in 2011 an article about the change of the genera Viguiera Kunth to Aldama La Llave. However, even with this modification, the genera still have filogenetic problems, indicating the necessity of new data to solve them. Therefore, the species Aldama anchusifolia (DC) E.E.Schill. & Panero, A. arenaria Baker, A. bakeriana S.F.Blake, A. discolor Baker, A. filifolia Sch.Bip. ex Baker, A. kunthiana Gardner, A. linearifolia Chodat, A. megapotamica (Viguiera Malme), A. nudibasilaris S.F.Blake, A. pilosa Baker, A. robusta Gardner, A. squalida S. Moore, A. tenuifolia Gardner and A. trichophylla will be analyzed for the distribution and occurrence of secretory ducts on the midrib and the leaf venation to find characters that might help with the species delimitation. To accomplish the analysis, permanent glass-slide will be made with previously collected material or herbarium material, following the usual histological techniques. The great similarity on vegetative state between some of the species selected, that can only be distinguished with pollen grains analysis, points out the need for more anatomic data to delimitate the species here analyzed.