MISCELLANEOUS COMPOUNDS 



283 



ratio seems to be characteristic of the more advanced plants, the data 

 provided by Manskaja may be interpreted as an example of recapitu- 

 lation, or in the words of the often maligned aphorism, ontogeny 

 recapitulates phylogeny. 



As indicated above, our knowledge of lignin composition rele- 

 vant to phylogeny is more or less restricted to information concerning 

 the types and proportions of phenylpropane-type monomers. The 

 classic work in this area is that of Creighton et al. (1944) who exam- 

 ined many gymnosperms and angiosperms. Gymnosperm lignin usu- 

 ally yielded only guaiacyl type derivatives. Exceptions included 

 Podocarpus amarus, P. pedunculatus, Tetraclinus articulata, and 

 species of the order Gnetales. In contrast, angiosperms contained lignin 

 which yielded both guaiacyl and syringyl derivatives; in most, the 



Vanillin 



Syringaaldehyd 



Fig. 14-3. The distribution of lignins and their aromatic monomers 

 in plant groups in geological time. (From Manskaja, 1959). 



( Cambrium 

 I Silurian 



Palxozoicum = Paleozoic \ Devonian 



Carboniferous 

 Permian 



Mesozoicum = Mesozoic. 



Ti'iassic 

 Jurassic 

 Cretaceous 



Kanozoicum = Cenozoic . 



1 



/ Tertiary 

 I Quaternary 



