Glossary Details – Lecythidaceae

Glossary Details:

Title: Medial sections sections of an androecium of Bertholletia excelsa. Photo by N. P. Smith.

Description: Medial sections sections of an androecium of Bertholletia excelsa based on an unvouchered tree, Amazonas, Brasil. Left: section with the vestigial stamens in place to show their swept-in orientation and split into a posterior hood extension and an anterior hood extension. Note the clavate filaments of the outermost stamens (right) and the unidimensional filaments of the inner stamens. The distance from A to C is the ligule and from B to C is the androecial hood (including the vestigial stamens.

Term:

Androecial hood split

Definition:

A separation of the androecial hood into a posterior hood extension and an anterior hood extension.

Notes:

An androecial hood split only occurs in zygmorphic-flowered (e.g., Bertholletia excelsa) but not in all zygomorphic-flowered (e.g., Couroupita guianensis) Lecythidaceae. In addition, zygomorphic-flowed species that possess one or moe coils usually do not have androecial hood splits.