ABSTRACT:

Recent alpha-taxonomic studies of Schismatoglottis Zoll. & Moritzi provide a sufficiently stable framework to facilitate taxonomically robust multidisciplinary research, notably molecular phylogenetic, ecological and phenological studies including analyses of morphological adaptations to specialized ecology (in particular rheophytism), and comparison of mechanical processes linked to pollination strategies (notably spathe senescence). Such data will later be mapped onto molecular-generated phylogenetic trees in order to analyse their origins. The various processes by which the spathe limb is shed during or post anthesis is the subject here of a preliminary discussion. The significance of these data is reviewed in terms of the currently proposed informal infrageneric groupings.