A phylogenetic study of floral morphology of some members of Asclepiadaceae R.Br

Abstract

Floral morphological diversity and phylogenetic relationship were studied in the family Asclepiadaceae. This family characterized by unique features that contributes to extreme floral complexity and diversity. In this paper, we used preliminary phylogenetic hypothesis for the family Asclepiadaceae to explore the mode of diversification in pollinarium and coronal structure. The occurance, size, shape, position, orientation of pollinia, mode of pollination and the presence of form of coralline corona and gynostegial corona were studied for similarity indices between two subfamilies Periplocoideae and Asclepiadoideae.