Elaborate petals and staminodes in eudicots: Diversity, function, and evolution

Petals, a characteristic feature of eudicots, have evolved elaborations in various ways and across diverse clades. In this survey of petal and staminode elaborations throughout the eudicots, based on both new studies and a review of the literature, the diversity of such structures and their functions is discussed. Petal elaborations are primarily present as marginal lobes and ventral lobes of various shapes. Lobation patterns can be loosely classified as pinnate, binate, or ternate. One of these patterns may be dominant within a family (e.g. pinnate in Anisophylleaceae, binate in Caryophyllaceae, ternate in Elaeocarpaceae); transitional forms also occur (e.g. between binate and ternate in Onagraceae). Coronas between the corolla and androecium are found in several groups, for example in several families of Malpighiales or in Apocynaceae. In some clades, petal elaborations are especially prominent and can be used as approximate systematic markers (Anisophylleaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Rhizophoraceae). Petal elaborations are especially diverse in rosids. In asterids, which are characterized by sympetaly, elaborations are more conspicuous at the level of the architecture of the entire corolla, rather than at the level of individual petals. Evolutionary trends in petal elaboration in certain larger clades are shown and their involvement in floral biological functions is discussed. (c) 2006 Gesellschaft fur Biologische Systematik. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.