Seed micromorphology of 20 species of Minuartia L. (Caryophyllaceae) that represent 2 different subgenera (. Minuartia subgen. Spergella (Fenzl) McNeill and Minuartia subgen. Minuartia) were examined using scanning electron microscopy. Some qualitative and quantitative characters such as seed length and width, seed shape, cell shape, and cell ornamentations were studied. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2013) 37: 446-454 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Seed micromorphological survey of the Minuartia species (Caryophyllaceae) in Iran 1, 2 3 4 3 Golaleh MOSTAFAVI *, Mostafa ASSADI , Taher NEJADSATTARI , Fariba SHARIFNIA , Iraj MEHREGAN 1 Department of Biology, Shahre-rey Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 2 Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran, Iran 3 Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 4 Department of Biology, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: Seed micromorphology of 20 species of Minuartia L. (Caryophyllaceae) that represent 2 different subgenera (. Minuartia subgen. Spergella (Fenzl) McNeill and Minuartia subgen. Minuartia) were examined using scanning electron microscopy. Some qualitative and quantitative characters such as seed length and width, seed shape, cell shape, and cell ornamentations were studied. The results showed that seed micromorphology might provide useful tools in recognition and separation of Minuartia hamata (Hausskn.) Mattf. from other species of sect. Minuartia. Minuartia khorassanica Assadi & Mostafavi, a recently described species from Iran, is another species that micromorphologically was quite different. The species M. juniperina (L.) Maire & Petitm., belonging to sect. Acutiflorae (Fenzl) Hayek, was completely distinct from other species in this section by having glandular papillae on the cell surface. As a result, seed micromorphology with a few exceptions showed variation and its taxonomic value was significant in distinguishing taxa at the species level. Key words: Caryophyllaceae, Minuartia, seed micromorphology, taxonomy, Iran 1. Introduction The genus Minuartia L. [(Caryophyllaceae Juss., subfamily Minuartioideae .
