Carpels in Brasenia (Cabombaceae) are Completely Ascidiate Despite a Long Stigmatic Crest

Background and Aims The morphological structure of anthetic carpels of Brasenia (Cabombaceae), a member of the phylogenetically basal ANITA grade, has not been studied before. The carpel has a long stigmatic crest on the ventral side and could give the impression of a conduplicate structure. This is in contrast to the carpel structure in other genera of the ANITA grade. Therefore, a study of carpel development and carpel structure at anthesis was carried out. Methods Carpels of Brasenia schreberi were studied at different developmental stages up to anthesis by means of microtome section series and SEM to analyse and reconstruct the outer and inner carpel morphology. Key Results Carpels of Brasenia are extremely ascidiate up to anthesis. The elongate stigma originates around the mouth of the young carpel, which is slightly curved toward the centre of the flower. Subsequently, the stigmatic zone below the mouth expands by massive intercalary elongation. Conclusions In their ascidiate shape, carpels of Brasenia are similar to carpels of Cabomba, the other genus of Cabombaceae, which, in contrast, has a short stigma restricted to the tip of the carpel. Thus, the morphological structure is independent of the extent (and one-sidedness) of the stigma. The outer shape of carpels at anthesis does not allow the inference of the inner morphological surface. If an angiosperm carpel has a one-sided stigma it can be extremely conduplicate or extremely ascidiate. Therefore, caution has to be used in the interpretion of the structure of fossil carpels.