Cypsela and Pappus Morphology and Their Significance for the Taxonomic Delimitation of the Genus Saussurea DC. s.str. and Its Allied Genera (Asteraceae)

The cypsela and pappus macro- and micromorphological features of 32 taxa belonging to <i>Saussurea</i> DC. <i>s.str</i>., <i>Lipschitziella</i> Kamelin, <i>Himalaiella</i> Raab-Straube, <i>Dolomiaea</i> DC., <i>Aucklandia</i> Falc., <i>Frolovia</i> (DC.) Lipsch. and <i>Shangwua</i> Yu J. Wang, Raab-Straube, Susanna, and J.Quan Liu of the tribe Cardueae (Asteraceae) were studied through light and scanning electron microscope to assess the cypsela features of the studied taxa from Pakistan and Kashmir. The cypsela morphological data could also help to discover the taxonomic relationship, as there were no specific and detailed reports available of all the taxa reported from the area under consideration. Various cypsela features, like pappus series, cypsela shape, and surface patterns, were found to be the most significant characters for the taxonomic delimitation of <i>Saussurea s.l</i>. The genus <i>Saussurea s.str</i>. was delimited from its allied genera due to having biseriate pappus, while the remaining genera pappus were either uniseriate or multiseriate; among these genera, <i>Dolomiaea</i> was characterized due to having multiseriate pappus, while the remaining genera, such as <i>Lipschitziella</i>, <i>Himalaiella</i>, <i>Aucklandia</i>, <i>Shangwua</i>, and <i>Frolovia</i>, had uniseriate pappus. Furthermore, these genera could be delimited based on cypsela shape and surface patterns. Similar to the generic delimitation, cypsela micro and macromorphological characters were also found to be useful for specific delimitation within the studied genera. Most of the cypsela morphological variables when analyzed numerically also proved the taxonomic affiliation for most of the taxa of the genus <i>Saussurea</i> and its allied genera. Similarly, these cypsela features could be well correlated with the gross morphological and molecular evidence at the generic and partially for the specific and infraspecific delimitation of <i>Saussurea s.l.</i> from Pakistan and Kashmir.