Germinação de sementes de Asteraceae nativas no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil Germination of seeds of Asteraceae natives of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Aquênios (sementes) recém coletados, de treze espécies nativas de Asteraceae comuns nos ambientes abertos da região sul do Brasil foram testados quanto à germinação em temperaturas alternadas ( 20/10; 25/15; 30/20; 35/25°C) e sob temperaturas constantes ( 20; 25 e 30°C) com ou sem luz. A temperatura ótima para germinação varia entre as espécies, sendo que as espécies Elephantopus mobilis; Eupatorium laevigatum; Mikania cordifolia; Senecio oxyphyllus; Trixis prastens germinam de forma semelhante em todas temperaturas testadas. Eclipta alba tem sua germinação promovida a 30°C. Tagetes minuta tem a germinação das sementes promovida a 20°C. Em Senecio heterotrichius; S. selloi; Stenachaenium campestre; Symphyopappus casarettoi e Vernonia nudiflora as sementes germinam igualmente a 20 ou 25°C.. A luz promoveu a germinação de todas espécies exceto para Stenachaenium campestre e Tagetes minuta, sendo esta última espécie fotoblástica negativa. Quanto ao tempo médio de germinação, as espécies podem ser divididas em ; rápidas- menos de 5 dias (Baccharis trimera; Eclipta alba; Elephantopus mollis; Stenachaenium campestre e Vernonia nudiflora); intermediárias: entre 5 e 10 dias ( Eupatorium laevigatum; Mikania cordifolia e Tagetes minuta) ; lentas: mais de 10 dias (Senecio heterotrichius; S.oxyphyllus; S.selloi; Symphyopappus casarettoi e Trixis praestans).Os resultados mostram que a germinação de sementes de Asteraceas variam com a temperatura e o regime de luz; podendo prover uma base inicial para interpretação de efeitos sazonais sobre a germinação e estabelecimento a campo. Em adição, comentários sobre o substrato ágar ou areia são feitos.<br>Achenes of thirteen native Asteraceae species common to the natural grassland or weeds of the southern region of Brazil were tested for germination over a range of alternating temperatures ( 20/10; 25/15; 30/20 and 35/25°C), and under constant temperatures ( 20; 25 and 30°C) with light or not .Only fresh collected achenes (herein = seeds) were used. The optimum temperature for germination differed among the species, with Elephantopus mobillis; Eupatorium laevigatum; Mikania cordifolia; Senecio oxyphyllus; Trixis praestans germinating the most over all temperatures tested. Eclipta alba seeds germination was promoted at 30°C. Colder treatments promoted germination in Tagetes minuta , and in Senecio heterotrichius; S.selloi; Stenachaenium campestre; Symphyopappus casarettoi and Vernonia nudiflora germination was equivalent at 20 or 25°C. Light promoted germination for all species except in Stenachaenium campestre and Tagetes minuta, the latter being a negative photoblastic species. According to the mean time for germination, the species could be ranked in: fast -less than 5 days- (Baccharis trimera; Eclipta alba; Elephantopus mollis; Stenachaenium campestre and Vernonia nudiflora); intermediate: between 5 and 10 days- (Eupatorium laevigatum; Mikania cordifolia and Tagetes minuta) ; slow: more than 10 days-(Senecio heterotrichius; S.oxyphyllus; S.selloi; Symphyopappus casarettoi; Trixis praestans). The results show that germination of seeds of a range of Asteraceae species varies with temperature and light regime; they provide an initial basis on which to test and interpret the effects of seasonal factors on germination and field establishment. In addition, comments on the agar and sand substrates were made

A systematic survey of floral nectaries

The construction of classifications, as well as the understanding of biological diversity, depends upon a careful comparison of attributes of the organisms studied (Stuessy, 1990). It is widely known that data from diverse sources showing differences from taxon to taxon are of systematic significance. Dur-ing the 20th century, systematists have emphasized that their discipline involves a synthesis of all knowledge (Stevens, 1994) or, in other words, the variation of as many relevant characters as possible should be incorporated into the natural system to be constructed. The extent to which particular characters are constant or labile will determine their usefulness to syste-matics. In general, more conservative characters will be valuable in defining families and orders, whereas more labile characters may be useful at the ge-neric and specific levels (Webb, 1984). There is no doubt that floral characters are among the most used in the classification of flowering plants. At the same time, they constitute essential features in diagnostic keys to taxa in both taxonomic treatments and Floras (Cronquist, 1981, 1988).Fil: Bernardello, Gabriel Luis Mario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin