Seed characters and testa sculptures of some Iranian Allium L. species (Alliaceae)

Seeds taken from herbarium specimens of 20 Allium taxa were investigated. The seeds of all species were black ranging from 1.7 mm (A. lamondiae) to 4 mm (A. altissimum and A. stipitatum) in length and 1 mm (A. lamondiae) to 3 mm (A. altissimum) in width. So, A. lamondiae had the smallest and A. altissimum the largest seeds. In the mean, the members of subg. Melanocrommyum had somewhat larger and the species of sect. Avulsea somewhat smaller seeds than most species belonging to other groups. The shape was generally ovate or variants of it and showed only slight differences between members of different sections. The seed coat pattern was more variable. Most common were convex, granulate periclinal walls bearing several verrucae. Only A. borszczowii showed flat, densely granulate periclinal walls without verrucae, and A. bungei and A. joharchii had somewhat verruca‐like aggregating grana. The majority of the species investigated showed S‐like, rarely Omega‐like, undulated anticlinal walls with variable wavelengths and amplitudes. The testa cells of A. joharchii showed transitions to straight anticlinal walls. More or less straight anticlinal walls in A. kopetdagense, A. paradoxum, A. barsczewskii, and A. scabriscapum were connected with the presence of a strip‐like widened and transversally striated intercellular region covering these walls. The seed coat pattern of most species corresponded well to earlier reports of the same or closely related species, or was at least already reported for not related Allium species. Only A. borszczowii and A. monophyllum displayed testa types earlier not reported. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)