Abstract
Amicia is the least diverse genus of the Adesmia clade. It has a disjunct distribution with six endemic species restricted to the central Andes of South America and one species endemic to Mexico. The phylogeny and taxonomy of this genus have been extensively studied. Nevertheless, pollen data are still insufficiently known within a taxonomic context. In this study, we analysed all Amicia species using light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy and we present phylogenetically useful palynological information to support taxonomic studies. Variation in pollen grain size and aperture features is used to delimit pollen types, which corroborate molecular and biogeographical data. Multivariate analysis reinforced the pollen type subdivisions and revealed novel diagnostic morphological features for two infrageneric taxa of Amicia. Our pollen results provide informative pollen characters to assist in the delimitation of Amicia species, which can be easily misidentified due to similarities in vegetative structures. Amicia pollen morphology reflects population isolation and divergence of Amicia lineages and provides critical features for future phylogenetic optimisation of the Adesmia clade.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to curators of the herbaria (E, K, MO, NY, US) who provided specimens for study. The authors thank the ‘Laboratório de Microscopia Eletrônica, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de São Paulo’ coordinated by Prof. Dr Elliot Watanabe Kitajima, who made available a scanning electron microscope and the ‘Centro de Microscopia e Imagem, Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba, Universidade de Campinas’ coordinated by Prof. Dr Pedro Duarte Novaes, for the use of a transmission electron microscope.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Specimens investigated
Amicia Kunth
Amicia andicola (Griseb.) Harms. Bolivia: Chuquisaca, Sucre. J.R.I. Wood 8092, 13 March 1994 (K 000556941). Bolivia: Chuquisaca, Oropeza. J.R.I. Wood 8097, 13 March 1994 (MO 100929458).
Amicia fimbriata Harms ex Kuntze. Bolivia: Chuquisaca, Zudañez. J.R.I. Wood 22400, 4 March 2066 (MO 100929849). Bolivia. Bridges s.n., s.d (K).
Amicia glandulosa Kunth. Ecuador: Loja – Catamayo, La Toma. G.P. Lewis 3185, 22 April 1997 (NY 01912662).
Amicia lobbiana Benth. ex Rusby. Peru: Huánuco, Ambo. J. Aronson, P.E.B. Aronson 603, 4 August 1978 (MO 72746). Peru: Cusco, Paucartambo. T.E. Särkinen 2244, 9 May 2007 (MO 100929430). Bolivia. T Särkinen 2145, 7 April 2007 (E 274126).
Amicia medicaginea Griseb. Bolivia: Potosí, Cornelio Saavedra. G. Torrico, C.P.T. Pardo 475, 29 April 1993 (MO 3352473).
Amicia micrantha Harms ex Kuntze. Bolivia: Chuquisaca, Zudañez. J.R.I. Wood 23303, 31 March 2007 (MO 10092966). Bolivia: Santa Cruz, Valle Grande. M. Dematteis 3636, 9 March 2009 (K).
Amicia zygomeris DC. México: Puebla, Zacapoaxtla. J.D. Amith 2687, 14 October 2015 (US 3740488). Mexico: Temascaltepec. G.B. Hinton 808, 27 May 1932 (K 000118237).
Correction Statement
This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (https://doi.org/10.1080/00173134.2023.2174293)