Morphological and morphometric analysis of seeds of three species of native orchids from the neotropical region of Ecuador

Abstract

The present research is the first report describing the morphological and morphometric characteristics of Elleanthus capitatus, Epidendrum frutex and Odontoglossum hallii, Ecuadorian three native species. It was found that species Epidendrum frutex and Odontoglossum hallii are statistically different from Elleanthus capitatus in relation to the length and number of seeds per milligram, the last one was found to be smaller. The seeds' length was 0.2131 mm (Elleanthus capitatus) to 0.702 mm (Odontoglossum hallii), while the average number of seeds per milligram from 702 (Epidendrum frutex) to 982 (Elleanthus capitatus) seeds/mg. However, the diameter of the seed showed no significant difference between species, with an average range of 0.06 to 0.08 mm. In addition, the color observed in the seeds was evaluated by RVA color model for its report. The description of the seeds are of vital importance in order to elucidate the taxonomic, geographic, phylogenetic and conservation relationships for the great diversity of orchids.