Ann.Bot.Fennici4931–42.PDFVIP

Ann. Bot. Fennici 49: 31–42 ISSN 0003-3847 (print) ISSN 1797-2442 (online) Helsinki 26 April 2012 © Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board 2012 Floral development in Asteropyrum (Ranunculaceae): implications for its systematic position 1 2 1, 3,4 Liang Zhao , Wei Wang , Yi Ren * Julien B. Bachelier 1) College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710062, China (*corresponding author’s e-mail: renyi@) 2) State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China 3) Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 4) Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131, USA Received 14 Dec. 2010, final version received 12 Mar. 2011, accepted 15 Mar. 2011 Zhao, L., Wang, W., Ren, Y. Bachelier, J. B. 2012: Floral development in Asteropyrum (Ranun- culaceae): implications for its systematic position. — Ann. Bot. Fennici 49: 31–42. Systematic affinities and taxonomical rank of Asteropyrum in the Ranunculaceae have been controversial. It has been placed in Coptidoideae, Thalictroideae, Ranunculoi- deae (incl. Helleboroideae), or sometimes in its own tribe or subtribe. Recent molecu- lar phylogenetic studies, however, supported the inclusion of Asteropyrum in its own tribe Asteropyreae (Ranunuculoideae) but its affinities remain unclear. In order to help resolve such an uncertain