Anatomical notes on Marsdenia erecta (Apocynaceae) Wood: Is it secondarily woody?

Abstract

This study deals with the wood of Marsdenia erecta R. Br., which is poorly known from a wood anatomical point of view. M. erecta, a woody-based perennial with numerous herbaceous sprawling stems, is distributed in the south and eastern parts of the Balkan Peninsula (incl. Crete) and Asia Minor to Afghanistan. The study aims at describing the wood anatomy of the species in detail based on IAWA list of microscopic features for hardwood identification, and at determining whether it has paedomorphic wood anatomical features. In M. erecta wood, the typical decreasing age-on-length graphic for vessel elements and exclusively upright and square ray cells provide strong arguments for paedomorphosis and secondary woodiness. However, to make a precise decision, this result based on wood anatomy should be checked with molecular phylogenetic data of the species investigated.