XVI International Botanical Congess

Canellaceae are a family traditionally assigned to Magnoliales, of disjunct distribution: Africa and tropical America. In order to clarify their palynological features, all six genera were examined, using sem and critical point, focusing on infratectal structure and aperture sculpture. All have a thick foot-layer, the infratectum is generally columellar except in the american genus Capsicodendron, which is granular. Aperture sculpture is differentiated from that of the tectum, particularly in Warburgia, recalling madagascan myristicacean types such as Brochoneura. Tectal sculpture is variable, from finely perforate (Canella) to foveolate-reticulate (Cinnamosma). Thus highly divergent patterns but also shared features are evidenced within Canellaceae, providing morphological data for its use in large cladistic analyses of basal angiosperms.