ИСТИНА

Strongly monophyletic palm subfamily Ceroxyloideae contains three monophyletic tribes – Cyclospatheae, Ceroxyleae, Phytelepheae. Four genera of Ceroxyleae have a disjunctive distribution: the North and Central Andes (Ceroxylon), Juan Fernandez Is. (Juania), Madagascar and Comoros (Ravenea) and northeast Queensland (Oraniopsis). Although the genera of Ceroxyleae are similar in the structure of inflorescences and flowers, the structure of their fruits has not been studied. In order to identify synapomorphies in the structure of Ceroxyleae fruits, we studied the structure of the pericarp of fruits at different stages of growth in representatives of all 4 genera, including Oraniopsis appendiculata (F. M. Bailey) J. Dransf. et al. Its pericarp is differentiated into the exocarp (single-layered epidermis), multilayered mesocarp represented by thin-walled cells (larger in the peripheral zone and smaller in the inner zone), and the endocarp – single layer of nearly square thin-walled cells lacking lignification. There are scattered solitary of clustered sclereids in the peripheral zone of the mesocarp. During development, the number of mesocarp cell layers reaches 100 and then, at late developmental stages the innermost zone of the pericarp becomes partly compressed. The histology of the pericarp allows referring the Oraniopsis fruit to the berries of Nymphaea type. In this way, the fruits of Oraniopsis differ from those in all other representatives of the subfamily Ceroxyloideae, which are recognized as the pyrenariums of different types with sclerenchymatous endocarp. According to histogenesis and structure of the mature pericarp, Oraniopsis fruits are the most specialized not only in the tribe Ceroxyleae but also in the entire subfamily Ceroxyloideae: Pseudophoenix (the only genus of Cyclospatheae) is characterized by pyrenaria containing one-3 separate pyrenes with single-layered lignified palissade endocarp, the same as in corky warted fruits of Phytelepheae, which contain up to 10 pyrenes. Thanks to founds: State Assignment №18-118021490111-5, Unique Scientific Equipment 'Found Greenhouse'.