DOI: 10.5061/dryad.jdfn2z37t
title: Data From: Inflorescence and flower development in Orchidantha chinensis T. L. Wu (Lowiaceae; Zingiberales): similarities to inflorescence structure in the Strelitziaceae

description: The monotypic Lowiaceae remains the least known family in the plant order
 Zingiberales, yet it holds an important key to unraveling the phylogenetic
 placement of the families Musaceae, Heliconiaceae, Strelitziaceae, and
 Lowiaceae. After nine phylogenetic studies the (Lowiaceae, Strelitziaceae)
 clade is the only stable clade that has emerged in this half of the order.
 This study was undertaken to verify the unusual inflorescence and flower
 structure in Orchidantha, and to search for new characters that might be
 used in future phylogenetic analyses. We describe both inflorescence and
 flower development in a previously unstudied species, confirm
 inflorescence morphology in the genus, and compare the structure of the
 inflorescence in the Lowiaceae with that of the Strelitziaceae, its
 potential sister group.  The inflorescence of Orchidantha is born
 at the end of a vegetative shoot and is composed of two lateral branches
 that each bear four bracts and a single flower, before aborting. The
 fourth bract and its associated flower form the highly reduced flower
 cluster (florescence) that characterizes this genus. In technical terms
 Orchidantha has a polytelic synflorescence that lacks a main florescence
 (it has a truncated polytelic synflorescence) and bears solitary flowers
 in coflorescences on determinate enriching branches. The enriching
 branches produce a fixed number of bracts before aborting (i.e., they are
 special paracladia). Many of these features are shared with the
 Strelitziaceae. Similarities between the Lowiaceae and Strelitziaceae
 include inflorescence structure, the presence of a long prolongation of
 the ovary, and a delay in the formation of the third sepal during flower
 development, a character that is also shared with the Musaceae.
 Inflorescence and flower structure is now well established in this small,
 but important family.
description: Standard procedurs for Scanning Electon Microscopy (SEM) were
 used to photograph inflorescenced and flower developmental
 stages.
description: Overview of the archive The raw data of
 morphological studies are dissection notes, and photographs. Both types of
 data are included in this archive.  The first
 author's (Bruce Kirchoff's) dissection notes are in the file
 "04 Orchidantha chinensis field notes.pdf" in the root directory
 of the archive. The images are in the directories described
 below. There are two type of images included in the
 archive:  (1) Photographs taken in the field or lab,
 generally with a Cannon F1 film camera, and scanned to digital by a
 commercial scanning service. (2) Scanning Electron
 Micrographs (SEMs) taken either at the University of North Carolina at
 Greensboro, or at the South China Botanic Garden. Please see the
 manuscript for a detailed description of the techniques.
 The film camera photographs are in a single directory and are
 indexed with metadata in the file "01 Photos and SEM.xlsx" or in
 the comma separated text value (.csv) mirrors. The descriptions of these
 two csv files are below.  The SEMs are in three
 different subdirectories, described below. Directory
 Structure of Archive with Information about the Contents of Each
 Directory . . . (root directory) 01
 Photos and SEM.xlsx - Excel file with file names and metadata for photos
 and SEMs on separate<br>       worksheets<br> 02 Photos.csv -
 Comma separated text file with same data as Excel file for photos
 (only).<br> 03 SEM.csv - Comma separated text file with same data as
 Excel file for SEMs (only).<br> 04 Orchidantha chinensis field
 notes.pdf<br> 05 Readme.rtf - This file in rich text
 format.<br> 06 Readme.txt - This file in plain text text
 format.      Photographs\  - Scans
 of film camera photographs taken in the field with a description of the
 image, field locality, voucher information, information on which images
 came from the same original material, and cross references to the
 manuscript figures.      SEM\by apex\
 - The images are sorted into subdirectories based on the
 inflorescence apex that was photographed. All images in the same directory
 are of the same apex. See the "Photos and SEM.xlsx" (or csv)
 file for cross references, locality and voucher information.
      SEM\by dev stage\ - The images are sorted
 into subdirectories by developmental stage. The sorting is rough and there
 are multiple images at each developmental stage (i.e., in each directory).
 "See Photos and SEM.xlsx" (or csv) for more information and
 cross references.       SEM\by order used in
 Paper\ - The SEMs are renamed so that they sort in the
 order that they are used in the plates. See "Photos and
 SEM.xlsx" (or csv) for a cross reference on the file names.<br>