Phylogeographic patterns in three South African forest mosses

Bibliography: leaves 86-97.Lepfodon smithii (Leptodontaceae) and Pterogonium gracile (Leucodontaceae) are widespread and disjunctly distributed moss species, that in South Africa are confined to forest patches believed to be relics of vast forests that existed before the Pleistocene glaciation period. These two species exhibit similar distribution and ecologies and frequently co-occur. Wardia hygrometrica is a southwestern Cape endemic that is restricted to streams within the kloofs that the forests generally occupy. In an attempt to trace the species histories and their subsequent colonization of forest patches, two molecular markers, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) nuclear rDNA and trnL-F cpDNA were employed

Morphological study of Schizaea Pectinata (L.) Sw. (Schizaeaceae)

Morphometrics was used to study variation in Schizeae pectinata as previous study showed that material originating from the summer rainfall area of South Africa differ in several aspects from that originating from the winter rainfall area. The plant has a simple structure and consequently spore, stoma and sporangia sizes, as well as the number per lamina was studied to determine if the species can be subdivided into two groups, e summer and e winter rainfall group, as was previously hypothesised. Univariate and bivariate methods were used to display the extent of variation within the species. Univariate analysis reflect variability of spore and stomata size, and the number of pinna pairs per lamina. Statistical analyses showed that interpopulation variation for these characters are often highly significant. Phonetic methods were used in the analyses of the data set and shows continuous variation in this species. This continuous variation in Schizaea pectinata could be linked to a phenotypic response to environmental differences between the two regions

Ethnobotanical Study of Hyacinthaceae and Non-hyacinthaceous Geophytes in Selected Districts of Malawi

researchThis paper reports on the findings of an ethnobotanical survey of geophytes used in 15 selected districts of Malawi. The survey was initially driven by the need to assess the conservation status and use of Lilioid monocots of the family Hyacinthaceae. Altogether, 49 geophytes were documented as useful for food (24%), medicine (58%) and other purposes (18%). The most commonly reported species was Dioscorea odoratissima Pax. (Dioscoreaceae). Monocots represented 45% of the total. Members of the family Hyacinthaceae were only represented by 3 (6%) species Albuca abyssinica Jacq., Ledebouria cordifolia (Baker) Stedje & Thulin and Ledebouria revoluta (L.f.) Jessop. The study has further explored six alternative methods of evaluating sampling effort and estimating species richness. Michaelis-Menten Means estimator appeared to be the best estimator of species richness but was not able to accurately predict species richness for all the data combined. A bootstrap estimator was found to be more accurate. It was also apparent from the survey of geophytes that species in the Asteraceae and Fabaceae are more sought after for food and medicine than hyacinthoide monocots evidenced by fewer representatives mentioned by respondents

Leaf mottling/variegation and shape in the Ledebouria revoluta complex ? Development, stability and putative function

The aims of this paper are three-fold: 1. To analyse the development and stability in vegetative traits such as leaf shape, growth and pigmentation patterns in three different morphotypes (defined by leaf shape and pigmentation) of the Ledebouria revoluta complex. 2. To discuss the putative function of leaf mottling/variegation. 3. To discuss plasticity in these traits in relation to taxonomy and species delimitation within the complex. Clones were analysed in a cultivation experiment with two nitrogen levels (N1 and N2), three morphotypes (A, B & C) and two light levels (L1 and L2). Anthocyanins were found in hypodermal cells, particularly in the proximal (i.e. young) parts of the leaf. The red pigmentation faded out in distal (i.e. more mature) parts of the leaf. Furthermore, older, outer leaves had more pigmentation than younger, inner leaves. Increased nitrogen availability had no effect on leaf pigmentation. Some plants developed significantly more red pigmentation adaxially at high light intensities, whereas abaxial pigmentation was unaffected by light intensity. The pigmentation of the two sides of a leaf therefore seems to be regulated independently and may accordingly serve different functions for the plants. Adaxial pigmentation (mainly in the form of mottling, pigmentation mainly in spots) may serve as photoprotection, whereas abaxial pigmentation (mainly in the form of variegation, pigmentation mainly in bands) may possibly be aposematic. In the field a high degree of intrapopulational variation in pigmentation patterns was observed. This might be due to local habitat heterogeneity and gene flow or frequency dependent selection. Characters relevant to taxonomy (leaf shape, pigmentation pattern) only changed to a limited extent, suggesting that the vegetative traits are genetically based. The three different morphotypes were easily recognized unrelated to the different treatments. Whether a formal taxonomic status is justified for the different morphotypes will need more plant material and genetic data and cannot be decided based on this study