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Steven R. Manchester, Zhiduan Chen &
Zhekun Zhou
Wood anatomy of Craigia
(Malvales) from southeastern Yunnan, China
IAWA J. 27
(2): 129-136
Wood anatomy of Craigia W.W. Sm. & W.E. Evans
(Malvaceae s.l.),
a tree endemic to China and Vietnam, is described in order to
provide new characters for assessing its affinities relative to other
malvalean genera. Craigia has
very low-density wood, with abundant diffuse-in-aggregate axial parenchyma
and tile cells of the Pterospermum
type in the multiseriate rays. Although Craigia
is distinct from Tilia by the
presence of tile cells, they share the feature of helically thickened
vessels – supportive of the sister group status suggested for these
two genera by other morphological characters and preliminary molecular data.
Although Craigia is well
represented in the fossil record based on fruits, we were unable to locate
fossil woods corresponding in anatomy to that of the extant genus.
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