Morphological diversity of pistil stigmas and its taxonomic significance of representatives of holoparasitic Orobanchaceae from Central Europe

The stigma is the terminal part of the carpel which receives pollen during the pollination process. Although the role of the stigmas in pollination is the same for all angiosperms, stigmas structures are very diverse. This study aimed to evaluate intraspecific, interspecific and intergeneric stigmas variability and then find differences of the stigma morphology amongst 24 holoparasitic Orobanche and Phelipanche species and provide new insights into its potential taxonomic value. This paper was also focused on selecting the best diagnostic features that would be used for future stigma analysis in other species of Orobanchaceae. These analyses were conducted with fresh, dry and fixed material using stereomicroscopy from different locations from Central Europe. Twenty-one quantitative or qualitative morphological features were analysed. This study highlights the variation of stigma morphology and characters which are useful to improve the taxonomic understanding of problematic taxa. Thus, two main types of stigmas were established, based on tested features: 1–oval, rarely hemispherical in shape, most often one-coloured with lobes separated in Phelipanche stigmas; 2–spherical to hemispherical, rarely oval, multi-coloured with partially fused or separated lobes in Orobanche stigmas. The best diagnostic features of the stigmas for distinguishing the Orobanchaceae are the type and subtype of stigma, the length and area of the stigma, the width of single lobes, the width in the middle part of the stigma, the length of upper and lower separation in the middle part between lobes and the angle between lobes in the upper and lower part. The morphological features of the stigmas are important criteria for distinguishing genera, sections and subsections, as well as related species. In this study, we present the first stigma morphological studies for the most numerous genera from the tribe Orobancheae and this paper may determine features possible to use in solving certain taxonomic problems and evolutionary relationships of the species.