Androecial development and systematics in Flacourtiaceae sl

Androecial development of 13 species belonging to six tribes of Flacourtiaceae has been investigated. While in Scolopieae and Flacourtieae the stamens develop centrifugally, in Erythrospermeae, Oncobeae and Pangieae they are initiated in a centripetal sequence or a sequence that is neither distinctly centripetal nor centrifugal. The distribution of these developmental patterns coincides with the distribution of other characters (e.g. cyanogenic compounds, salicoid leaf teeth) and therefore supports a split of the family into Flacourtiaceae s. str. (containing the Scolopieae, Homalieae, Prockieae, Flacourtieae, Casearieae and Bembicieae) and Kiggelariaceae (with Erythrospermeae, Oncobeae and Pangieae) and is in accordance with results of recent rbcL studies.