Climbing since the early Miocene: The fossil record of Paullinieae (Sapindaceae).

Paullinieae are a diverse group of tropical and subtropical climbing plants that belong to the soapberry family (Sapindaceae). The six genera in this tribe make up approximately one-quarter of the species in the family, but a sparse fossil record limits our understanding of their diversification. Here, we provide the first description of anatomically preserved fossils of Paullinieae and we re-evaluate other macrofossils that have been attributed to the tribe.

Effects of dry-season irrigation on leaf physiology and biomass allocation in tropical lianas and trees.

Lianas are more abundant in seasonal forests than in wetter forests and are thought to perform better than trees when light is abundant and water is limited. We tested the hypothesis that lianas perform better than trees during seasonal drought using a common garden experiment with 12 taxonomically diverse species (six liana and six tree species) in 12 replicated plots. We irrigated six of the plots during the dry season for four years, while the remaining six control plots received only ambient rainfall.

Unravelling roots of lianas: a case study in Sapindaceae.

Background and Aims Roots are key in the evolution of plants, being in charge of critical functions, such as water and nutrient uptake and anchorage of the plant body. Stems of lianescent Sapindaceae conform to the anatomical patterns typical of climbing plants, having cambial variants in their stems and vessel dimorphism in their wood. The roots of these lianas, however, are largely unexplored, so we do not know whether the plant habit has as strong an impact on their anatomy as on the anatomy of their stems.