Re: The Spathe

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2001.12.30 at 06:08:53(7993) Dear Jason, I have also read in scientific literature while describing the palms where the large hard structure surrounding/attending the flowers is refered to as the spathe. Good luck, Julius +More >>Hi, We know the aroid spathe is unique in the plant kingdom, although there are possible precursors in the subtending bracts of certain Cyclanthaceae and Arecaceae, indeed a number of monocot taxa. But, I have been thinking lately about whether there are analogous or precursory structures in the dicots: the genera Davidia and Tilia come to mind. Both these genera have bracts subtending the inflorescence, which differ greatly from the leaves; and in Davidia, these are the showy part of the inflorescence. The question is, can these bracts be in any way compared with the aroid spathe? Jason Hernandez Naturalist-at-Large<<

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