Floral Structure and Mechanism in Loasaceae

Abstract

Aspects of floral morphology and vascular anatomy, pollination, and seed dispersal are presented for 14 species of seven genera of Loasaceae, sensu lato: (Blumenbachia, Caiophora, Cevallia, Eucnide, Loasa, Mentzelia, Petalonyx). Floral specializations such as elaborate staminodia and centrifugal androecial development parallel specializations in pollination. The affinities of the subfamilies Mentzelioideae, Loasoideae, and Gronovioideae are supported by comparative vascular anatomical evidence, and differences in direction of androecial initiation are interpreted as alternative expressions of a common pattern.