Descritores morfológicos de frutos de dicotiledôneas para banco de dados

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a system of formal descriptors and standard terminology which would permit the description of fruit macro-morphology for inclusion in multiple-use databases based upon information taken from the literature and the observation of iive fruits. Creation of formal descriptors required that the object (the fruit) be broken down into its basic components (structures). This logical approach enabled clarification of the types of morphological data used in the literature and provided a basis for establishing usefiil descriptors. It would appear to have potential for application in similar studies. An analysis of a broad bibliographical review showed that plant features used to describe fruits and to distinguish both fruit 'lypes" and the morphological syndromes associated with fruit dispersion ali belong to a group of basic features (structural, qualitative and quantitative), commonly used in the description of biological organs and organisms. The structural features describing fruit type which are used extensively in the literature dealing with taxonomy, morphology and fruit dispersion were found insufficient to describe species adequately. It was necessary to include some of the descriptive features (both quantitative and qualitative) that are used in determining dispersion syndromes and/or in the taxonomic literature, in order to be able to distinguish among species. The usage of terms referring to structure was delimited and criteria established for those creating or using sets of formal descriptors. 619 descriptors are proposed, divided into 6 categories: descriptors of fruit origin (4); descriptors of fruits arising from inflorescences (87); descriptors of finits arising from apocarpous gynoecia (99); descriptors of fruits arising from syncarpous gynoecia (191); descriptors of fruits arising from moncarpous gynoecia or free carples or mericarps (178) and descriptors of seeds (60). The descriptors included are appropriate for the creation of databases but can also be used directly for the objective description of fruits. The use of structured descriptors with a simple language and terminology can contribute to improving communication of fruit descriptions. Given that the users of the descriptors are diverse, including users and administrators of the database and curators of herbaria and germ plasm banks, taxonomists. ecologists and educationalists, modifications or additions to this set can be made using the model and approach presented. The descriptors here presented contribute to the literature by improving the understanding and description of fruits and of the dispersion syndromes of neotropical Dicotyledons given that most of the available literature is about fruits of the temperate zones.