Wood and bark anatomy of Salvadoraceae: ecology, relationships, histology of interxylary phloem1

Abstract

CARLQUIST, S. (Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105). Wood and bark anatomy of Salvadoraceae: relationships, ecology, histology of interxylary phloem. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 129:10-20. 2002. Quantitative and qualitative data are presented for stem wood of one species each of Azima, Dobera, and Salvadora and for root wood of Salvadora. The liquid-preserved material of Salvadora permitted analysis of interxylary phloem: abaxial to most strands a "residual meristem" adds sieve-tube elements and companion cells to each strand, crushing earlier-formed phloem. Current opinion that Salvadoraceae are a sister family to Bataceae is supported by wood anatomy: they share such features as bands of mostly nonsubdivided axial parenchyma cells, wide multiseriate rays, and and storied structure. Nonbordered perforation plates, found also in other Capparales, are newly reported for Salvadoraceae. Koeberliniaceae have tracheids, Bataceae fibertracheids, thought more primitive than the libriform fibers of Salvadoraceae. Wood of Azima is moderately mesomorphic, perhaps because it grows near beaches where saline or brackish water is available to roots; Dobera and Salvadora have highly xeromorphic wood. The terms "foraminate included phloem" and "concentric included phloem" are misnomers and must be rejected.