Floral development and systematic position of Eucalyptus curtisii (Myrtaceae)

Abstract

The corolla of E. curtisii Blakely & White clearly consists of free, imbricate parts that closely adhere by their cuticles. Ontogenetic investigation of the corolline parts did not reveal any suggestion of morphological duality that characteristically leads to the complex 'petals' in Angophora and other eucalypts. The stamen primordia are initiated on the inner flank of the invaginated floral apex, and at anthesis are inserted on the rim of the hypanthium. There is no evidence of a stemonophore distinctive of the informal subgenera Eudesmia, Symphyomyrtus and Monocalyptus. The possession of the plesiomorphic condition for both these characters is suggestive of a 'primitive' position for E. curtisii close to the root of the eucalypt phylogenetic tree. This is supported by the possession of several other characters that are apparently plesiomorphic for Eucalyptus sens. lat.