Systematic implications of seed coat morphology in Campanulaceae Juss.

I n the present study the seed coat micromorphology of 51 accessions of the Campanulaceae s. l. were investigated via SEM, the selected OTU's include accessions representing 11 genera and 35 species of the subfamilies: Campanuloideae and Lobelioideae. This study is an attempt to investigate variation between the species and the taxonomic relationships between them. Variations in seed coat micro-sculpture supported the monophyly of the family, favored the retention of Lobelia in the Campanulaceae, showed a relatively isolated nature of Edraianthus serbicus and suggested that the genus Campanula as is currently constituted may be polyphyletic and needs further studies. The study also recorded a relatively high degree of polymorphism within the seed shape and seed coats of the different accessions of the same species, thus suggesting more future studies for their re-evaluation.