The phyllotaxy of Costus (Costaceae)
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Bruce K. Kirchoff, Emeritus Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: The spiromonostichous phyllotaxy of Costus, and other Costaceae, is characterized by low divergence angles, often as low as (30°—) 50°. This constrasts with the main series Fibonacci (divergence angles ap-proximating 137.5°) or distichous phyllotaxy found in all other Zingiberales. A morphological and devel-opmental study of three species of Costus revealed a number of facts about this unusual phyllotactic pattern. In C. scaber and C. woodsonii the divergence angles gradually change along a shoot, from 140°-100° in the region of the cataphylls to 60°-45° in the inflorescence. In C. cuspidatus, the divergence angles change from 40°-100° in the cataphyll region to ca. 137° in the inflorescence. In all three species, the cataphylls and foliage leaves have tubular sheaths, while the inflorescence bracts are nonsheathing. Thus, spiromo-nostichy is only loosely correlated with closed leaf sheaths.
The phyllotaxy of Costus (Costaceae)
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Created on 1/1/1990
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Botanical Gazette 151: 88-105
- Language: English
- Date: 1990
- Keywords
- Costus,