Article

Seed coat sculpture of 93 taxa belonging to 45 genera of the family Brassicaceae was examined using light and scanning electron microscope. Four basic epidermal cell patterns (types) with 7 subtypes were recognized. While one sub-type was represented by only one species, the remaining types and subtypes have more than one species and they either represent one genus or more. In most of the studied types and subtypes species could generally be distinguished from each other on the basis of differences in micro-sculpturing features of the outer periclinal cell walls. The results mostly support the traditional classification of Brassicaceae particularly at tribal and sub-tribal level with some modifications. The classification and phylogeny of the Brassicaceae are discussed together with recent molecular studies of the family.