Flora最新文献

{"title":"High-resolution characterization of rhizosphere oxygen (O2) dynamics in different wetland plant species after light/dark transitions","authors":"Ye Zheng ,&nbsp;Zhihong Zhang ,&nbsp;Yu Sun ,&nbsp;Zhaode Wang ,&nbsp;Jianeng Chen ,&nbsp;Narangerel Serdyanjiv ,&nbsp;Odsuren Batdelger ,&nbsp;Chao Han","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2025.152674","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2025.152674","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Radial oxygen loss (ROL) is crucial for wetland plant survival and interactions with rhizosphere microenvironments. The ubiquitous presence of light/dark transitions can significantly influence ROL function by regulating photosynthetic activity; however, overall magnitude and direction of these effects are unclear. Herein, high-resolution planar O₂ optodes were employed to quantify the O₂ dynamics around the roots of three typical wetland plant species during light/dark transitions. The 2D and 1D O₂ distributions confirmed that ROL activity was heterogeneously distributed, with millimeter-wide zones of intense leakage around the roots of all three plants. Significant species-specific variations in root-derived O₂ leakage capacity during light/dark transitions were also observed. Specifically, the average O₂ concentrations declined by <em>ca.</em> 10.2%, 23.9%, and 17.0%, respectively, for <em>Oryza sativa, Vallisneria spiralis,</em> and <em>Acorus calamus</em> upon switching from light to darkness<em>.</em> In comparison, the oxic microzone area around their roots decreased by 23.03%, 7.21%, and 13.67%. Correspondingly, the ROL rates showed a pronounced decrease from light to darkness, dropping in <em>O. sativa</em> by 14%, in <em>V. spiralis</em> by 23%, and in <em>A. calamus</em> by 25%. <em>Acorus calamus</em> has the highest ROL capacity, which was likely facilitated by its well-developed lacunar system and efficient O₂ transport. Additionally, our results directly support the existence of oxic microzones and continuous O₂ release throughout light/dark transitions; this could guarantee that a continuous oxic environment surrounds the roots and shields plants from anaerobic phytotoxins in the rhizosphere. The passive diffusion of O₂ from the air or water column in total darkness may be the primary source of the modest aerobic sphere that surrounded each root. This study advances our understanding of the complex interplay between photosynthesis and ROL, contributing new insights into plant–sediment interactions and adaptive strategies of wetland plants to environmental fluctuations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 152674"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143182220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Challenging the 'Immunity Hypothesis': Primary or secondary parasitism as different survival strategies for the harlequin mistletoe Lysiana exocarpi (Behr) Tiegh","authors":"Marina Corrêa Scalon ,&nbsp;Davi Rodrigo Rossatto","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152662","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152662","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The relationship between host plants and parasitic plants is considered a unique and fascinating model to explore different aspects in plant physiology, especially concerning water relations and nutrient use, given that host and parasite share these resources. An even more intriguing dynamic occurs when a parasite parasitizes another parasite (epiparasitism). In theory, these epiparasites should show even more specialized physiological functions to be capable to withdraw water and nutrients from the hemiparasite, such as maintaining even lower water potential and dealing with stronger nutrient imbalance. Here we studied leaf morpho-physiological responses of the Australian harlequim mistletoe (<em>Lysiana exocarpi)</em> and box mistletoe (<em>Amyema miquelii)</em> acting as hemiparasites on pink gum (<em>Eucalyptus fasciculosa</em>) and <em>Lysiana exocarpi</em> as an epiparasite on <em>A. miquelii</em> parasitizing <em>E. fasciculosa</em>. We explored the water and nutrient use and partitioning between the different plants involved (host–mistletoe–epiparasite). We found that L. <em>exocarpi</em> showed physiological and morphological differences that represent a more acquisitive strategy of resource use with higher stomatal conductance, water use efficiency, specific leaf area and K and Mg leaf concentration when growing as an epiparasite compared to the same species growing as primary parasite. <em>Amyema miquelii</em> traits remained constantly similar irrespective whether as primary parasite or with an epiparasite sharing its resources while the effect of the epiparasite is mostly depicted in its host's host species. In conclusion, our findings suggest that by adjusting some traits, epiparasitism is an alternative option for the harlequin mistletoe. Moreover, regardless of the host–parasite association, the primary host is the most affected by the epiparasitism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 152662"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143182293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predicting the suitable habitat distribution of Polygonatum kingianum under current and future climate scenarios in southwestern Yunnan, China","authors":"Xiaoyan Hu ,&nbsp;Shaobing Yang ,&nbsp;Zhimin Li ,&nbsp;Yuanzhong Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2025.152677","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2025.152677","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change affects the distribution patterns and chemical composition of medicinal plants, leading to quality differences. <em>Polygonatum kingianum</em> Collett &amp; Hemsl<em>.</em> (<em>P. kingianum</em>) is a Chinese medicine and food homolog. With the increasing market demand, the sustainable supply and quality assurance of <em>P. kingianum</em> are particularly important. This study used the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model to predict the potential habitat suitability under current and future (2050s and 2070s) climate change scenarios, including Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) 245 and 585. In addition, chemical information of <em>P. kingianum</em> from different geographical sources was collected based on fourier transform near infrared spectroscopy (FT-NIR), and the geographical origin of <em>P. kingianum</em> was identified using a combination of two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) and residual convolutional neural network (ResNet) to evaluate the impact of different geographical sources on the quality of <em>P. kingianum</em>. We explored the correlation between absorbance and environmental factors from the perspective of spectral information. The research results indicated that annual mean temperature (Bio01), temperature seasonality (Bio04), annual precipitation (Bio12), precipitation of driest month (Bio14) and elevation (Ele) are the main environmental factors affecting the distribution of <em>P. kingianum</em>. In the current climate scenario, the suitable habitat was mainly located the southwest of China, including Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Chongqing. The area of lowly (0.2 ≤ suitability indices &lt; 0.4) suitable habitat was 57.20 × 10⁴ km², accounting for 51 % of the total suitable habitat area. The total land area comprising potential suitable habitat is predicted to expand under future climate scenarios. Under the emission scenario 245 (SSP245), the change rate of highly suitable habitat in 2070 was 30.26 %. The combination of 2DCOS and ResNet model successfully identified samples of <em>P. kingianum</em> from different geographical sources, with an accuracy rate of 100 %. In summary, the research results provided a fast and accurate method for the geographical tracing of <em>P. kingianum</em>, and provided theoretical guidance for the protection and sustainable utilization of wild resources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 152677"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143259519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Morphological and productivity responses of Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) under large trees in a South African savanna","authors":"Piet Monegi","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152669","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152669","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While herbaceous productivity typically decreases as woody plants become more abundant, there have also been reports of positive feedback, especially from single-standing larger woody species. The shade-tolerant and nitrophilous grass, <em>Panicum maximum</em> (Jacq) has been documented to colonise and flourish under tree canopies, especially large trees. However, information is lacking about the impact of large trees on <em>P. maximum</em> morphological and productivity responses under woody species with different functional traits (i.e. N-fixing ability) and canopy architectures. This study aimed to 1) evaluate the impact of large trees on morphological characteristics and biomass production of <em>P. maximum</em>, 2) determine the effect of deciduous vs non-deciduous trees on <em>P. maximum</em> morphological dynamics and production, and 3) to establish if functional qualities such as N-fixing ability modulate <em>P. maximum</em> responses under leguminous trees over two growing seasons (January 2022 and 2023). The study findings showed that <em>P. maximum</em> plants growing outside tree canopies had a significantly greater number of tillers and tuft sizes compared to the ones growing under tree canopies. No significant differences were found on <em>P. maximum</em> plant height among the microsites. However, <em>P. maximum</em> plant's vegetative height, leaf sizes and biomass production were enhanced under tree canopies. Additionally, the inflorescence length and the percentage of reproductive tillers of <em>P. maximum</em> plants recorded under <em>Searsia lancea</em> (evergreen tree) canopies were substantially reduced. The study findings demonstrated that structural changes created by the expansion and establishment of woody species do not only modify the micro-environment but can also influence the growth and development of both vegetative and reproductive parts of understory grasses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 152669"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143182172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Implication of morphological and molecular studies on taxonomic treatment of Acer L. spp. and some selected taxa of Sapindaceae Juss. s.l.","authors":"Mohamed A. Salim (Associate professor),&nbsp;Mariam I. Hussein (Lecturer),&nbsp;Nareman K. Hosney (Lecturer)","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2025.152675","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2025.152675","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The concept of Sapindaceae has a great conflict among different classification systems, due to the close relationship with Aceraceae. Many recent studies nested the <em>Acer</em> within Sapindaceae based on morphological and molecular criteria. This study aims to assess the potentiality of macro-, micro-morphological as well as molecular criteria (ScoT analysis) for clarifying the taxonomic position of the two <em>Acer</em> species in relation to Sapindaceae s<em>.</em>s<em>.. Acer oblongum</em> &amp; <em>A. negundo</em> in addition to 12 taxa of Sapindaceae were collected to investigate the morphological and anatomical characteristics of stem, petiole &amp; lamina as well as the genetic diversity based on SCoT polymorphism. These data were numerically analyzed using UPGMA clustering methods. The habit, leaf composition, laticifers, and vascular supply specially of petiole and mesophyll types were considered diagnostic at generic and specific levels and support the alliance between the two <em>Acer</em> species and the remaining taxa of Sapindaceae. The resulting dendrogram from the combined anatomical and molecular data showed that; the two <em>Acer</em> species are closely related to the remaining studied taxa. This result encourages the placement of <em>Acer</em> in a distinct subfamily within Sapindaceae.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 152675"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143195514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The species-specific relationship of leaf mass per area components to light and moisture","authors":"Rüdiger Knösche","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2025.152676","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2025.152676","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of this study was to investigate at the interspecific level to what extent the number of mesophyll cell layers and the leaf dry mass content (LDMC) – key determinants of leaf mass per area (LMA) – adapt to the ambient light and habitat moisture preferred by the species. The number of mesophyll cell layers was indirectly characterised by the quotient of thickness of chlorophyll-bearing mesophyll (Mth) and the anticlinal length of the mesophyll cells (aMCL). The leaves of 131 species from forests and acidic dry grasslands were sampled in the Federal State of Brandenburg in north-eastern Germany. Their light and moisture preferences were characterised using the light and moisture indicator values of Tichý et al. (2023), their geobotanical distribution within terrestrial plant communities arranged along a gradient of community-weighted mean light values and their classification according to preferences for forests and open land (Schmidt et al., 2002). The Mth/aMCL ratios correlated significantly and positively with increasing light levels and negatively with increasing habitat moisture. However, the variability of these relationships was high.</div><div>The water relations of the entire plant may differ from those of the leaves, for example due to deep roots. Therefore, LDMC was used to characterise water relations, especially of the leaves. The Mth/aMCL ratio did not correlate with LDMC. The study of light-loving species with known root system data showed that variation in rooting depth and the avoidance of dry periods influenced LDMC but not the Mth/aMCL ratio. This difference in the relationships of the Mth/aMCL ratio to light and moisture, in addition to the high variability in its correlation with light, suggests that the effects of light or moisture on LMA – commonly measured in ecological studies – should be viewed with caution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 152676"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143182295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hymenaea courbaril L. (Fabaceae) seedlings maintain growth but weaken their stem under experimental flooding conditions","authors":"Jane Rodrigues da Silva ,&nbsp;Fernanda Polli Pinheiro ,&nbsp;Alexandre Guillon Valdez Monteiro ,&nbsp;Augusto Cesar de Aquino Ribas ,&nbsp;Zildamara dos Reis Holsback ,&nbsp;Edna Scremin-Dias","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152667","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152667","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Flooding is a frequent event in the development of seedlings in riparian forests and adjacent areas. Once flooded, seedlings can develop a broad range of morphoanatomical changes that enable their growth and survive in hypoxic soil. With flooding events increasing in frequency worldwide, understanding the response of seedlings to flooding is an essential issue in the management and restoration of flooding prone areas. Here, we investigated the effects of flooding on the growth rate, biomass, morphoanatomy and secondary xylem anatomical traits of 110-day-old <em>Hymenaea courbaril</em> L. (Fabaceae) seedlings. We maintained the seedlings for 70 days in a recirculating and stagnant water treatment. We applied linear models to verify the effects of flooding on the growth rate, biomass and stem secondary xylem anatomical traits. Flooded seedlings had similar growth rates and stem and leaf dry biomass to those of non-flooded seedlings. In addition, flooded seedlings had lower root biomass and secondary xylem with narrower vessels with thinner cell walls in a higher density, shorter vessel elements, thinner fibre walls, a lower vessels and fibres fraction and a higher axial parenchyma fraction than non-flooded seedlings. Our results showed that <em>H. courbaril</em> seedlings are tolerant to flooding, maintaining their growth rate and aboveground biomass under hypoxic soil. Experimental flooding induced the development of a secondary xylem for more secure water supply, but with lower mechanical support potential, resulting in the seedlings more susceptible to stem breakage and decay.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 152667"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143182168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pappus morphology and heterocarpy in Stevia (Eupatorieae, Asteraceae): A systematic study of cypselae diversity and geographic distribution","authors":"Juan F. Rodríguez-Cravero ,&nbsp;Gabriela Cisterna ,&nbsp;Mariana A. Grossi ,&nbsp;Diego G. Gutiérrez","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152670","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152670","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The genus <em>Stevia</em> (Asteraceae, Eupatorieae) is widely distributed across the Americas and exhibits remarkable diversity in cypsela morphology and pappus structure. The variation in pappus types, including both homocarpic and heterocarpic species, plays a critical role in species delimitation within the genus. In this study, we investigate the morphology of cypselae and pappus across a diverse sample of <em>Stevia</em> species, emphasizing the systematic significance of pappus variation. Species were analyzed using light and scanning electron microscopy, focusing on key traits such as pappus structure, the presence of heterocarpy, and the arrangement of cypselae within the capitulum. Eight distinct pappus types were identified and described as fundamental morphological patterns. Additionally, species distribution maps are provided to illustrate the geographical patterns associated with these pappus types. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of morphological diversity within <em>Stevia</em> and underscore the importance of pappus variation in species identification and taxonomic classification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"323 ","pages":"Article 152670"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143182171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Standardization of two forms of the CRENATE (Pooideae Benth.) phytolith morphotype and their potential for environmental reconstructions","authors":"Marina Solomonova ,&nbsp;Mikhail Blinnikov ,&nbsp;Natalya Speranskaya ,&nbsp;Alena Lyashchenko ,&nbsp;Sergey Kotov ,&nbsp;Natalya Elesova ,&nbsp;Maksim Borisenko ,&nbsp;Marina Silantyeva","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152646","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152646","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The separation of two forms of <span>Crenate</span> phytoliths from the epidermal short cells of Pooideae subfamily is proposed here for the first time, based on vegetation composition and climatic data. We examined 210 topsoil samples from 70 vegetation plots in about 12 plant communities from the Russian Altai mountains to detect differences in the frequencies of occurrence of <span>Crenate sinuate</span> (CRE_SIN) and C<span>renate lobate</span> (CRE_LOB) submorphotypes. A ratio of the frequencies of these two phytoliths (s/l) is proposed. We clarified the difference between C<span>renate sinuate</span> and C<span>renate lobate</span> using morphometry of two target grass species. C<span>renate lobate</span> has been studied in the leaves of <em>Dactylis glomerata</em> L. C<span>renate sinuate</span> has been studied in the leaves of <em>Koeleria cristata</em> L. Our study has shown that the frequencies of CRE_SIN, CRE_LOB and s/l ratio depend on the temperature of the coldest and warmest months of the year and the amount of annual precipitation. When counting <span>Crenate</span> as a single morphotype, however, the relationship with climate variables is much weaker. Two submorphotypes have different associations with moisture conditions. Morphometric studies of CRE_SIN and CRE_LOB and data analysis revealed that the most important parameters for separating these two morphotypes are aspect ratio, elongation, convexity and solidity. Distinction between these two morphotypes may aid paleoenvironmental and ecological research in the temperate regions of the world, where <span>Crenate</span> phytoliths of Pooideae are very common.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"322 ","pages":"Article 152646"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142746119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heteroblasty in Conchocarpus heterophyllus (A.St.-Hil.) Kallunki & Pirani (Rutaceae): An approach of leaf development from the unifoliolate leaves","authors":"Carlos E.V. Raymundo,&nbsp;José R. Pirani,&nbsp;Gladys F.A. Melo-de-Pinna","doi":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152645","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.flora.2024.152645","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Heteroblasty is a phenomenon marked by abrupt changes in the development of organs of certain species. In our research on <em>Conchocarpus heterophyllus</em>, a shrub with palmately arranged leaflets ranging from 3(4) to 5(<strong>–</strong>7), we observed significant variations in leaf patterns between seedlings, young plants, and plants in the reproductive phase, indicating transition events during plant development. The focus of this study is to thoroughly investigate these events of heteroblasty and heterophylly in <em>C. heterophyllus</em>, with new evidence of the unifoliolate condition in Rutaceae. Morphological and anatomical observations were conducted from mature leaves of individuals at different stages of development<em>.</em> The results show that the heteroblasty in <em>C. heterophyllus</em> is marked by changes in leaf patterns across three stages. In stage 1, seedlings exclusively produce unifoliolate leaves from the first foliage leaf. After the eighth to tenth node from the cotyledons, heterophylly becomes evident with the emergence of leaves containing 2<strong>–</strong>3 leaflets, in addition to unifoliolate leaves, characterizing the second stage. The third stage is defined by the onset of the reproductive phase, marked by the presence of inflorescences. In this stage, the leaf complexity varies, with the number of leaflets ranging from 2 to 5, and unifoliolate leaves are lacking. Furthermore, our study identified the occurrence of vascular traces of leaflets in the swollen region located at the apex of the petiole of all unifoliolate leaves, occurring in stages 1 and 2. These vascular traces are interpreted as remnants of the lost lateral leaflets in unifoliolate leaves and represent novel evidence of this special condition in compound leaves. Heteroblasty in <em>C. heterophyllus</em> is a genetically controlled phenomenon, and consequently, prospective investigations involving microRNAs, particularly microRNAs 156 and 172, have the potential to provide valuable insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying the transition between different phases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55156,"journal":{"name":"Flora","volume":"322 ","pages":"Article 152645"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142722460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}