Zona Scott
Fairchild Tropical Garden, 11935 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables (Miami), FL 33156-4242, USA.
Ann Bot. 2004 Apr;93(4):415-21. doi: 10.1093/aob/mch060. Epub 2004 Feb 23.
Raphides are ubiquitous in the palms (Arecaceae), where they are found in roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. Their occasional presence in embryos, first noticed over 100 years ago, has gone largely unexamined.
Embryos from 148 taxa of palms, the largest survey of palm embryos to date, were examined using light microscopy of squashed preparations under non-polarized and crossed polarized light.
Raphides were found in embryos of species from the three subfamilies Coryphoideae, Ceroxyloideae and Arecoideae. Raphides were not observed in the embryos of species of Calamoideae or Phytelephantoideae. The remaining subfamily, the monospecific Nypoideae, was not available for study.
Within the Coryphoideae and Ceroxyloideae, embryos with raphides were rare, but within the Arecoideae, they were a common feature of the tribes Areceae and Caryoteae.
针晶体在棕榈科植物中普遍存在，在其根、茎、叶、花和果实中均有发现。100多年前首次注意到它们偶尔出现在胚中，但在很大程度上未被研究。
对148个棕榈类群的胚进行了研究，这是迄今为止对棕榈胚的最大规模调查，采用光学显微镜对压片标本在非偏振光和正交偏振光下进行观察。
在蜡椰亚科、鱼尾葵亚科和槟榔亚科的物种胚中发现了针晶体。在省藤亚科或瓦理棕亚科的物种胚中未观察到针晶体。其余的单种亚科水椰亚科无法用于此项研究。
在蜡椰亚科和鱼尾葵亚科中，有针晶体的胚很罕见，但在槟榔亚科中，它们是槟榔族和鱼尾葵族的共同特征。
