Nutlet Morphology and the Use of SEMs to Determine Characteristics for Identification of Species in the Genus Cryptantha Lehm. ex G. Don Section Oreocarya (E. Greene) Payson

Extract

The genus Cryptantha Lehm ex G. Don section Oreocarya (E. Greene) Payson of the family Boraginaceae presents some problems to botanists, both professional and amateur, in the keying and identification of species. The genus contains approximately 150 species, the section about 60 perennial and biennial herbs located generally in western North America. Identification has presented some taxonomic difficulty due to the variability and lack of distinctive vegetative characters. Botanists have turned to the nutlet (fruit) and flower morphology to aid in identification for precise specific differentiation. In the past, 10X magnification and a decent botanical illustrator were required to provide the illustrations necessary to assist in this identification. We are in the process of collecting micrographs of nutlets (dorsal, sagital, and ventral views) and developing a webpage containing these micrographs along with descriptions of their morphological variations.