The seed atlas of pakistan-xvi. acanthaceae

Seed macro and micro morphological characters of the 18 taxa belonging to the family Acanthaceae have been examined by using light and scanning electron microscopy. The family Acanthaceae is represented by 2 sub families viz., Acanthoideae and Avicennioideae. A remarkable variation has been observed in seed size, shape, colour and surface at various taxonomic levels. Seed morphological data was also analyzed numerically by clustering to trace out the phylogenetic relationship and the data was found useful as an additional tool to strengthen the recognition of taxa within the family Acanthaceae from Pakistan. (author)