Floral ontogeny and gene protein localization in mapaniid sedges

Poorly known, mapaniid sedges (Cyperaceae, subfamily Mapanioideae) possess unique floral forms, markedly different from stereotypical monocots, and the evolutionary issues of how or why this has occurred have not been resolved. Prychid and Bruhl evaluate current knowledge about mapaniid reproductive structures and present an ontogenetic study of a range of reproductive developmental stages in the genus Lepironia. Using floral protein localization they present the first floral protein expression maps for the family, leading to the conclusion that a synanthial hypothesis best explains the evolutionary origin of the reproductive unit.