210 BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMATICS 



workers as primitive. In the predominantly herbaceous famiHes fewer 

 species contain leucoanthocyanins. In the family Leguminosae, which 

 is predominantly woody, both positive and negative results were 

 obtained, though most herbaceous members of the sub-family 

 Papilionoideae tested negatively. Within the Papilionoideae, one 

 tribe, Hedysareae, contains many positive species (ten out of eleven 

 tested). Bate-Smith reported that in many legumes the seeds tested 

 positively for leucoanthocyanins even when the leaves of the same 

 species were negative, a fact which complicates the interpretation of 

 distributional data. 



In view of the above, Bate-Smith believes that families of 

 Hutchinson's Herbaceae should be examined for the presence of 

 leucoanthocyanins. It should be apparent that this application of 

 leucoanthocyanins as systematic criteria is at the higher taxonomic 

 levels (family, in this case). The character is not constant within 

 a family, necessarily, or even within a genus, and its systematic value 

 at the level indicated is somewhat questionable. Alston (unpublished) 

 has shown that leucoanthocyanins do not, apparently, serve to clarify 

 relationships within the genus Prosopis. In specific cases, however, 

 there is no reason to doubt that leucoanthocyanins may be valuable 

 as systematic characters particularly at lower taxonomic levels. For 

 example, in Iris leucoanthocyanins are virtually restricted to the 

 section Apogon wherein they are found in four out of seven species 

 examined (Bate-Smith, 1958). 



There is some correlation between a morphological and 

 chemical character in the Papilionatae in that the groups having 

 a pulvinus at the base of the leaf (the pulvinate condition is 

 regarded as the primitive condition), including the tribes Sophoreae, 

 Dalbergieae, Phaseoleae, and parts of Galegeae and Hedysareae, tend 

 to be positive for leucoanthocyanins. The groups lacking a pulvinus 

 tend to be negative for leucoanthocyanins. The pulvinate condition is 

 also distinctly correlated with woodiness as opposed to herbaceous 

 habit, a factor which Bate-Smith also believes to be significant. 

 Among the herbaceous monocots, about equal numbers of positive 

 and negative species are known. Positive species are common among 

 gymnosperms. 



With respect to qualitative aspects of leucoanthocyanins 

 Bate-Smith (1957) reported that the leucodelphinidin was common 

 among certain orders (for example, Rosales), but in other orders only 

 leucocyanidin occurred (as in Ranales). In Myrtales, leucodelphinidin 

 was quite common as was the analogous flavonol, myricetin, and the 

 tri-hydroxy derivative ellagic acid: 



