PHYLOGENY OF THE SCITAMINEAE-MORPHOLOGICAL AND ANATOMICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Abstract

This article is a brief summary of the major results from recent studies on the anatomy and morphology of the vegetative organs of the Scitamineae (Tomlinson, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961a and b), and permits an introduction of ideas which originated only as the survey was completed. Some of these ideas derived from a study of the individual families in the Scitamineae have a wider implication and should be brought to the attention of all botanists concerned with the phylogeny of angiosperms. The Scitamineae is a very natural order of monocotyledons, somewhat comparable in its homogeneity to grasses, palms, or orchids. Use of information on anatomy and floral morphology in the order makes possible very reasonable taxonomic subdivision, and provides a logical explanation of the presumed phylogeny of the order. This phylogenetic interpretation allows an explanation of many unusual distributions of structural features within the order.