Abb. 1: The African cycad Encephalartos altensteinii Lehm is widely cultivated in botanical gardens around Europe (like this one in the Botanical Garden of the University of Naples ’Federico II’), including one specimen that was brought from South Africa to the UK in 1775 and that is still alive today. Large Encephalartos are highly prized as ornamental plants, and unfortunately many species have been brought to the brink of extinction by poaching.
Abb. The African cycad Encephalartos altensteinii Lehm is widely cultivated in botanical gardens around Europe (like this one in the Botanical Garden of the University of Naples 'Federico II'), including one specimen that was brought from South Africa to the UK in 1775 and that is still alive today. Large Encephalartos are highly prized as ornamental plants, and unfortunately many species have been brought to the brink of extinction by poaching. Mario Coiro - Distribution in the Mesozoic from present-day Antarctica to Greenland Paleobotanist Mario Coiro of the Institute of Paleontology at the University of Vienna and colleagues at the University of Montpellier (France) have made an important breakthrough in understanding the origin and geographic distribution of cycads. By combining genetic data with leaf morphological data from both fossil and living species for the first time, the researchers created a phylogenetic tree of these fascinating and endangered plants. The results of the study, which was funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, have now been published in the journal New Phytologist. Cycads (order Cycadales ) are an evolutionarily very old and once very diverse group of palm-like plants that were widespread worldwide at the time of the dinosaurs.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
Your Benefits
- Access to all content
- Receive newsmails for news and jobs
- Post ads
