EARLY LINEAGES IN APIALES: INSIGHTS FROM MORPHOLOGY, WOOD ANATOMY AND MOLECULAR DATA

Recent molecular studies indicate that the araliaceous tribes Myodocarpeae R. Vig. ( Delarbrea Vieill., Pseudosciadium Baill. and Myodocarpus Brongn. & Gris.) and Mackinlayeae R. Vig. ( Apiopetalum Baill., Mackinlaya F. Muell. and several genera of Hydrocotyloideae Link ( Apiaceae )) comprise basally branching lineages within Apiales , an interpretation consistent with data from morphology and wood anatomy. Comparison of selected features in these genera, and in close relatives of Apiales , suggests that ancestral character states for the order may include: simple leaves, inflorescences in panicles of umbellules, flowers with articulated pedicels and a bicarpellate gynoecium, an andromonoecious, duodichogamous sexual system, septate fibres, the absence of radial canals, and the presence of paratracheal axial parenchyma in the wood.