SEED SCULPTURING OF SELECTED EUROPAEAN VICIA L. SPECIES (FABACEAE) AND THEIR TAXONOMICAL EVALUATION

Seed sculpturing of 26 Vicia taxa, belonging to the sections Ervum, Cr acca, Faba and Vicia, has been analysed using a scanning electron micr oscope (SEM). The anticlinal seed testa transections of the Vicia sali va, V. lathyroides and V. hirsuta have also been studied. The seed scu lpturing of most Vicia species analysed showed a typical papillose pat tern. In some species the seed ornamentation pattern is species specif ic, whereas many analysed species exhibited a similar pattern. The val ue of seed microsculpturing, as an additional taxonomic marker in the infrageneric classification of the Vicia genus, is discussed.