Very Good Mayur Ji On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 4:50 PM, Mahadeswara <[email protected]> wrote:
> Excellent useful info and beautiful photograph. Keep it up. All the > best > > On Feb 7, 9:50 am, Mayur Nandikar <[email protected]> wrote: > > Very special Commelinaceae morning to all.................. > > > > FEW WORDS ABOUT COMMELINACE > > > > Spiderworts, the members of family Commelinaceae, are widely distributed > > throughout the world, however, in spite of their vegetative > > propagationspecies are sparsely distributedand many of them are > > endemic. The three major centers of taxonomic diversity > > of Commelinaceae are: Tropical Africa; Mexico and Northern Central > America; > > and the Indian subcontinent. In the family only six genera (*Aneilema, > > Buforrestia, Commelina, Floscopa, Murdannia *and *Pollia*) have > indigenous > > species in both the New World and the Old World (Faden, 1978). > > > > Family Commelinaceae comprises about 41 genera and 650 species > distributed > > mostly in the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world (Faden, > > 2000). According to Faden (1998a) Peninsular India and the foothills of > > Himalayas to Thailand and Southwestern China is major center of diversity > > for Commelinaceae. It is represented in India with 14 genera and 85 > species > > (Karthikeyan and Jain, 1989). > > > > *Systematic Position:* > > > > * > > * > > > > The family Commelinaceae is very natural and mostly very well defined. > Its > > characters and relationship with other families belonging to Farinosae > have > > been fully discussed by Hamann (1961, 1962 and 1963). Bruckner (1926) > > classified the family in two subfamilies- Tradescantieae with > actinomorphic > > and Commelineae with zygomorphic flowers. Tradescantieae is further > divided > > into ‘Declinatae’ and ‘Inclinatae’ determined by floral buds being bent > away > > and towards the axis respectively. The genera *Murdannia *Royle are > > separated from *Aneilema *R. Br. on the basis of floral symmetry > (Bruckner, > > 1926). According to him *Aneilema* in the restricted sense belongs to > sub > > family Commelineae, whereas *Murdannia* to Tradescantieae. Woodson (1942) > > also recognized two tribes in Commelinaceae viz. Tradescantieae and > > Commelineae; the former has paired sessile scorpoid cymes which appear as > > two sided units superficially, whereas in the later ultimate branches of > > inflorescence of individual scorpoid cymes appear one sided. Supposedly > he > > rejected the idea of sorting out *Murdannia* from *Aneilema* and kept > them > > in his tribe Commelineae. > > > > Bentham and Hooker (1883) put the Family Commelinaceae in the > > series ‘Coronariae’ along with the families Roxburghiaceae, Liliaceae, > > Pontenderiaceae, Philydraceae, Xyridaceae, Mayaceae and Rapataceae. > Engler > > (1895 and 1897) and Rendle (1904) placed the family in order ‘Farinosae’ > > under sub-order ‘Commelinae’ consisting single family Commelinaceae. > Order > > Farinosae of Engler and Prantle (1915) also includes Flagellariaceae, > > Restionaceae, Centrolepidaceae, Mayaceae, Xyridaceae, Eriocaulaceae and > > Philydraceae; and is characterized by copious mealy endosperm. Bessey > (1915) > > placed the family in his order ’Liliales’, which include Liliaceae and > > Najadaceae, along with many families of Farinosae of Engler. According to > > Hutchinson (1934) his order Commelinales including Commelinaceae, > Mayaceae, > > Flagellariaceae and Cartonemataceae to be a basic terrestrial stock of > his > > Calyciflorae, from which has evolved his order Zingiberales. The seeds of > > the members of Commelinales are characterized by having an ‘embryotega’, > a > > special development of micropyle (Hutchinson, *loc. cit.*). > > > > The predominant trend, which begun by Meisner (1842), was to > > divide the family into two major groups. His tribe Tradescantieae had 6 > > fertile stamens while tribe Commelineae had a reduced number of fertile > > stamens. Hasskarl (1870) used Meisner’s classification, as did Clarke > > (1881), who also separated out a small, third tribe, Pollieae for genera > > with berries or berrylike fruits. > > > > Bruckner (1926 and 1930) raised the two major divisions of the > > family to subfamily rank and distinguished them on the basis of floral > > symmetry- subfamily ‘Tradescantieae’ (flowers actinomorphic) and > subfamily > > ‘Commelineae’ (flowers zygomorphic). Subfamily Tradescanteae was divided > > into tribes Hexandreae (6 fertile stamens) and Triandreae (3 fertile > > stamens). Subfamily Commelineae was split into tribes Declinatae (buds > bent > > downward, the posterior stamens less developed and usually sterile) and > > Inclinatae (buds curved inward, the 3 anterior stamens less developed and > > usually sterile). > > > > Woodson (1942) and Rohweder (1956), focusing on the American > > genera, returned to 2 tribes, Commelineae and Tradescantieae, but defined > > them on the basis of inflorescence rather than floral characters. > > > > Pichon (1946) was the first worker to completely break away > from > > the tradition of dividing the family into 2 major components. He > recognized > > 10 tribes-Tradescantieae, Callisieae, Anthericopsideae, Commelineae, > > Geogenantheae, Cochliostemateae, Pseudoparideae, Zebrineae, Cyanoteae and > > Dichorisandreae, on the basis of morphological characters. He further > > separated the genus *Cartonema* into its own family Cartonemataceae, > based > > in part, on anatomical grounds. > > > > Brenan (1966) recognized 15 informal ‘groups’, using a > > combination of morphological characters. He predicted that not all of his > > groups would prove to be of equal taxonomic rank. > > > > The history of the subdivision of the Commelinaceae was > > summarized by Faden and Hunt (1991) (briefly previwed by Faden, 1985), > > accepted 2 subfamilies- subfamily Cartonematoideae (tribes Cartonemeae > and > > Triceratelleae) and subfamily Commelinoideae (tribes Tradescantieae with > 25 > > genera and 285 species and Commelineae with 13 genera and 348 species). > > Within the tribe Tradescantieae, 7 subtribes were accepted- Palisotinae, > > Dichorisandrinae, Thyrsantheminae, Streptoliriinae, Cyanotinae, > > Coleotrypinae and Tradescantiinae. > > > > Hereby I am attaching a image, represents diversity among the family > > Commelinaceae in India. > > > > (Photograph credit: Mayur Nandikar, Pravin Kawale, Vivek Kale, Rajdeo > Singh) > > > > -- > > Mr. Mayur D. Nandikar, > > Research Student, > > Department of Botany, > > Shivaji University, > > Kolhapur. > > > > Commelinaceae.jpg > > 125KViewDownload -- Regards Dr Balkar Singh Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology Arya P G College, Panipat Haryana-132103 09416262964
