1. South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China;2. College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China;3. Zhoukou Normal College, Zhoukou, Henan 466000, China;4. Hangzhou Botanical Garden, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310013, China
Abstract:The fruit surface features of 16 species of Ardisia Sect.Crispardisia from China were examined with scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The fruits are spheroidal in shape,glabrous,rarely villous.Mostly punctate,rarely not puncate or unconspicuous,in the form of verrucate,granulata or transverse claviform,usually corresponding with protuberance on fruit surface.The surface ornamentation falls into 3 types:subsmooth,rugose,and undulate-reticulate.Some species have two types of ornamentation.The differentiation of ornamentation is obvious in some species.These results are very helpful in distinguishing between the species in the genus,and do not support the reduction of A.maculosa into A.polysticta.