Morphological characteristics of seeds of the Brassicaceae Burnett some rare species

Abstract

Objective – to study additional representative carpological characteristics for identification of the Brassicaceae family species. Material and methods. Mature seeds of 9 rare Brassicaceae species from the collection of the seed laboratory are collected in the Natural Flora Department of M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the NAS of Ukraine and obtained under the scientific seed exchange program. The carpological characteristics were investigated using Stemi-2000 C light microscope and the Axio Vision program. Results. The revealed speciesspecific morphological characteristics can be used as diagnostic criteria: seed form; presence of fringe; fringe peculiarities and its transparency; radicle length and position of radicle and cotyledons, exotesta surface relief. Conclusions. The carpological characteristics can be used as reliable additional criteria for the identification of the some rare species of the Brassicaceae family. Proper identification will be helpful for the rare species protection practice.

Keywords

• Brassicaceae
• fruit
• seeds
• identification
• rare species of plants