• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.313-335
• /
• 2005

Many plants take up soluble silica from the soil, and they deposit in plant tissues. Silica bodies are most commonly found in the leaf epidermis. Silica body is important factor in growth and development of plant. It help to maintain rigidity in stem and linear leaves, and its content may be correlated with resistance to fungal disease. In this study, several morphologically distinctive forms of silica bodies on Cyperaceae in Korea are recognized, which are eventually classified into two groups. Silica body type of first group (Rhynchospora, Fuirena, Scleria, Carex, Eriophorum) is A-type, which is conical in shape. Silica body type of second group (Cyperus, Scirpus, Eleocharis, Fimbristylis, Kyllinga, Bulbostylis, Lipocarpha) is B-type, which is conical in shape with numerous satellite body. These types are consistent enough to use as characters in taxonomic studies within genus. Silica body type may be associated with habitat: the species in dry region have A-type, whereas the species in wet region have B-type. These results suggested that shapes and presence or absence of silica body might be valuable to systematic analysis.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.314-325
• /
• 2016

Multiple changes of the photosynthesis pathway are independent evolutionary events occurring in the phylogeny of flowering plants, and such changes have occurred more than five times in Cyperaceae. In the tribe Cypereae, the C4 photosynthetic pathway appeared only once and is regarded as a synapomorphy of the C4 plants within this tribe. The morphological delimitation of genera within Cypereae does not correspond to their molecular phylogenetic relationships. In this study, the molecular phylogeny was compared with the photosynthetic pathways of Korean Cypereae (18 species of Cyperus, 1 species of Kyllinga, and 1 species of Lipocarpha). The photosynthetic pathways were determined by observing the leaf anatomy. The phylogenetic analysis was performed using three DNA regions (nrITS, rbcL, and trnL-F). According to the position of the photosynthetic tissue, 4 species (C. difformis, C. flaccidus, C. haspan, and C. tenuispica) and 16 species (14 Cyperus species, K. brevifolia var. leiolepis, and L. microcephala) were confirmed as C3 and C4 plants, respectively. Tribe Cypereae was divided into the CYPERUS and FICINIA clades, and all species of Korean Cypereae plants belonged to the CYPERUS clade in the phylogenetic analysis. Within the CYPERUS clade, C4 plants were monophyletic but their phylogenetic relationships were unclear. The genera Kyllinga and Lipocarpha were not supported as an independent genus in either case because they were nested by the Cyperus species in the molecular phylogenetic trees in the present and in previous studies. To determine the classification within the CYPERUS clade, a detailed morphological study and a molecular phylogenetic analysis at a high resolution will be necessary.

• Journal of Species Research
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.59-67
• /
• 2017

Southwest Primorye is located in the southern most part of the Russian Far East. The flora of this area is one of the most thoroughly studied and contains 1,530 species of vascular plants, belonging to 622 genera and 154 families, representing 55.6% of the flora of the Primorsky Territory. The flora native to Southwest Primorye encompasses 1,356 species from 547 genera and 148 families. Adventitious plants are represented by 174 species from 127 genera and 37 families. Among other areas of the Russian Far East, only Southwest Primorye has flora in common with the Korean Peninsula, which contains plant species in the subtropical and tropical latitudes: Mitrasacme indica Wight, Halosciastrum melanotilingia [Boissieu] M. Pimen. et V. Tichomirov, Streptolirion volubile Edgew., Lipocarpha microcephala [R. Br.] Kunth, Pueraria lobata [Willd.] Ohwi, Belamcanda chinensis [L.] DC., Zoysia japonica Steud., Deinostema violacea [Maxim.] Yamazaki and Parthenocissus tricuspidata [Siebold et Zucc.] Planch. Most of the flora is represented by the species restricted to Southwest Primorye (seven endemic species) or the Korean Peninsula (seven hemiendemic species). A total of 50.2% of the 10 largest families are nemoral (preboreal) floras, located in the transitional zone of the boreal and nemoral floras. In terms of the structure of the ranked taxonomic spectrum of the largest families, the flora of Southwest Primorye is more similar to that of Northeast China with influence of the Korean flora.