Seed Coat Characters of Some American Myrtinae (Myrtaceae): Psidium and Related Genera

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Abstract
Psidium (Myrtaceae: Myrtinae) has long been one of the most difficult genera of American Myrtaceae to define. We here describe and illustrate, with SEM photographs, four characteristics of seed coats that help to distinguish Psidium from its American relatives: 1) seed coat surface dull or rough with an external layer of pulpy tissue; 2) hard portion of outer seed coat usually 8-30 cells thick at narrowest point; 3) prevalent shape of cells in the outer seed coat elongate; and 4) lumen of cells in the outer seed coat tending to be less than 1/2 as wide as the cell. Recognition of these characters allows extraction of certain anomalous groups from Psidium.

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