Format: ORAL

Anna Ancy Antony Attullil1, Etna Bivera2

Department of Botany, St. Albert's College, Ernakulam, India

Systematic concepts of Boraginaceae have been highly problematic and controversial over decades. Traditional classifications subdivided the family Boraginaceae into five subfamilies. Recent molecular data-based results, supports the recognition of eleven families namely the Boraginaceae s.str., Codonaceae Weigend Hilger, Coldeniaceae J.S.Mill. Gottschling, Cordiaceae R.Br. ex Dumort., Ehretiaceae Mart., Heliotropiaceae Schard., Hoplestigmataceae Gilg, Hydrophyllaceae R.Br., Lennoaceae Solms, Namaceae Molinari, and Wellstediaceae Novk. under Boraginales. The family Heliotropiaceae Schard. comprises four genera, Heliotropium L., Euploca Nutt., Ixorhea Fenzl and Myriopus small. with about 450 species world wide. The members are distributed in the tropics and temperate regions of the world and occur mostly along the plains, coastal areas, dry arid zones. In India, the family is represented by two genera Heliotropium L. and Euploca Nutt. and with a high percentage of endemism. The members are annual or perennial herbs characterised by scorpioid cymes, epipetalous stamens, bicarpellary gynoecium, tetralocular ovary, terminal style, uniquely modified stigmatic head with annulus base and infertile apex, four seeded fruits. The family is studied in India based on field and herbarium data and the characters were recorded. Entire morphological variation occurring within the family is considered. Diversity and adaptive value of foliar architecture and pollen morphology of species is analysed. Hypodromous, brochidodromous type I, II, III, craspidodromous and reticulodromous venation patterns are noted within the members. Kranz anatomy is restricted to the Euploca clade. Euploca is characterised by medium-sized pollen grains, except in E. ovalifolia. Pollen grains are prolate in Heliotropium and prolate spheroidal in Euploca with the absence of endocingulum and medial constriction. Phylogenetic analysis using combined sequence data from regions ITS, trnLtrnF, matK and rps16 were conducted. These approaches prove to be highly informative in delimiting members within the family.