Morphological characterization of fruit, seeds and seedlings of white-seal (Chrysophyllum rufum Mart. -Sapotaceae)

Abstract

Abstract Chrysophyllum is the second largest genus of Sapotaceae, with 81 species distributed in the neotropics. Little data are found in the literature regarding the morphology of seedlings and the early development of this genus. This study aims to morphologically characterize the fruit, seeds and seedlings of Chrysophyllum rufum Mart. Fruits were collected from individuals present in two fragments of the Atlantic Forest, Pernambuco. A sample of 100 seeds and 100 fruits was randomly selected to obtain the morphological data. The seeds were sown in plastic trays in a greenhouse. The fruits are bacoid, obovoid and globose with one or two functional seeds per fruit. The seeds are obovate, with the shape of the hilum ranging from elliptical transverse to oblong transverse. The embryo is cotyledonar, with a spatulated form. The cotyledons are foliaceous and whitish-translucent. The endosperm is abundant and whitish. Germination is epigeal, phanerocotylar and unipolar. The seedling has different characteristics than those of the adult individual, such as the shape and leaf consistency, type of leaf margin, type of venation variation, number of pairs of secondary veins, trichome coloring and abundance of latex.