Significance of Fruit and Seed Coat Morphology in Taxonomy and Identification for Some Species of Brassicaceae
Abstract
Fruit, seed morphology and seed coat sculpturing were recorded for 10 species belongs to 9 genera and five tribes of Brassicaceae in eastern region of Saudi Arabia by using light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Four seed patterns were recognized based on surface sculpturing pattern; Reticulate, with four subtypes, undulate, verrucate and ocellate. The results of numerical analysis showed that species were grouped into two major clusters and each cluster divided into two groups. The cluster analysis indicates that the characters of fruit and seed are very important characters for identification and taxonomical classification of the tribes. The results indicate that the most tribes of Brassicaceae are polyphyletic, and some are related to each other’s as Lepidieae, Alyssieae and Sisymbrieae.