Gathered fruits and cultivated plants at Bercy (Paris), a Neolithic village in a fluvial context

Recent rescue excavations at Bercy (Paris), a site on the alluvial plain of the Seine valley, yielded plant remains which are associated with the recent occupation phase dating from the middle Neolithic II (Chasséen), when a village was established on the former channel of the river Seine. Various contexts (the channel, the flat lower part of the bank, and several archaeological features) have been studied and 84 taxa have been identified. Cultivated plants are represented by Triticum aestivum/durum, T. dicoccum, T. monococcum and Hordeum vulgare. Among the wild plants with potentially edible fruits or seeds, only very few satisfy the various criteria for association with human activities: Corylus avellana, Vitis sylvestris, Cornus sanguinea, Quercus sp. and Prunus spinosa of which carbonized fruits were also present, were found in archaeological features and were very abundant. Though not found in archaeological features, we consider that Crataegus monogyna (carbonized and well represented) and Rubus spp. (especially abundant) were not deposited there naturally and had also been intentionally collected. Finally, it is suggested that the allochthonous (varied) origin of these taxa is the reason why there are no concentrations of their fruits in the channel. The exploitation of wild seeds and fruits appears to have been very selective. All other wild taxa can be attributed to natural deposition.     

桂林种质圃中猕猴桃分类群的观察和测试

本项工作始于1980年冬,几年来共收集了猕猴桃物种和变种32个,定植于种质圃者27个种。另收集了中华猕猴桃、美味猕猴桃、金花猕猴桃等经济价值较大的优良类型28个。猕猴桃各分类群果实的营养成分差异很大,维生素C含量高的可达1013.98mg/100g果实,低的仅为8.8mg/100g果实;不同种和变种的种子发芽率为1.5—51.62％;幼苗形态特征、物候期以及植株长势等均有明显差异。     

Archaeobotanical investigations of late neolithic lakeshore settlements (Lake Biel, Switzerland)

This paper describes the results of the archaeobotanical examination of four Late Neolithic lakeshore settlements on Lake Biel in Switzerland. Due to the excellent preservation conditions in lakeshore settlements, non-carbonized as well as carbonized seeds and fruits were recovered in large numbers. In addition to the diaspore analyses, some samples of charcoal and moss were identified. The spectrum of cultivated plants was markedly different between the sites. In the transition from the 34th to 33rd century B.C. (sites Nidau, Lüscherz and Lattrigen ‘VI’) naked wheat and barley were predominant, while in the 32nd century B.C. (Lattrigen'VII') emmer (a glume wheat) was most abundant. Flax and opium poppy were of great importance during the whole late Neolithic period. In addition to cereals, a large number of cereal weeds were detected. The wild flora included a high percentage of aquatic and lake-shore plants which results from the strong influence of water on the cultural layers. Taxa of flood-plain forest are also common. The proportion of potential grassland plants was low (in total only 13 taxa) which suggests that in addition to the cultivated fields only few pastures and grassland areas existed close to the settlements.     

Fruit characters as a basis of fruit choice and seed dispersal in a tropical forest vertebrate community

Summary Interactions between a large community of vertebrate frugivore-granivores (including 7 species of large canopy birds, 19 species of rodents, 7 species of ruminants, and 6 species of monkeys), and 122 fruit species they consume, were studied for a year in a tropical rainforest in Gabon.The results show how morphological characters of fruits are involved in the choice and partitioning of the available fruit spectrum among consumer taxa. Despite an outstanding lack of specificity between fruit and consumer species, consideration of simple morphological traits of fruits reveals broad character syndromes associated with different consumer taxa. Competition between distantly related taxa that feed at the same height is far more important than has been previously supposed. The results also suggest how fruit characters could have evolved under consumer pressure as a result of consumer roles as dispersers or seed predators. Our analyses of dispersal syndromes show that fruit species partitioning occurs more between mammal taxa than between mammals and birds. There is thus a bird-monkey syndrome and a ruminant-rodent-elephant syndrome. The bird-monkey syndrome includes fruit species on which there is no pre-dispersal seed predation. These fruits (berries and drupes) are brightly colored, have a succulent pulp or arillate seeds, and no protective seed cover. The ruminant-rodent-elephant syndrome includes species for which there is pre-dispersal predation. These fruits (all drupes) are large, dull-colored, and have a dry fibrous flesh and well-protected seeds.     

Molecular analyses of MADS-box genes trace back to Gymnosperms the invention of fleshy fruits

Botanical fruits derive from ovaries and their most important function is to favor seed dispersal. Fleshy fruits do so by attracting frugivorous animals that disperse seeds together with their own excrements (endozoochory). Gymnosperms make seeds but have no ovaries to be transformed into fruits. Many species surround their seeds with fleshy structures and use endozoochory to disperse them. Such structures are functionally fruits and can derive from different anatomical parts. Ginkgo biloba and Taxus baccata fruit-like structures differ in their anatomical origin since the outer seed integument becomes fleshy in Ginkgo, whereas in Taxus, the fleshy aril is formed de novo. The ripening characteristics are different, with Ginkgo more rudimentary and Taxus more similar to angiosperm fruits. MADS-box genes are known to be necessary for the formation of flowers and fruits in Angiosperms but also for making both male and female reproductive structures in Gymnosperms. Here, a series of different MADS-box genes have been shown for the first time to be involved also in the formation of gymnosperm fruit-like structures. Apparently, the same gene types have been recruited in phylogenetically distant species to make fleshy structures that also have different anatomical origins. This finding indicates that the main molecular networks operating in the development of fleshy fruits have independently appeared in distantly related Gymnosperm taxa. Hence, the appearance of the seed habit and the accompanying necessity of seed dispersal has led to the invention of the fruit habit that thus seems to have appeared independently of the presence of flowers.     

Identifying prehistoric collected wild plants: A case study from late bronze age settlements in the french alps (Grésine, Bourget Lake, Savoie)

The late Bronze Age lakeshore settlements of Grésine (French Alps) have yielded archaeobotanical evidence of 14 cultivated and 153 wild plants. Some of the wild taxa may have been collected, but many are probably here by chance. Three criteria are used as evidence for human transport and manipulation of wild plant remains: number of items, fragmentation, and carbonization. Relations between these criteria and known ethnobotanical properties of the identified plants are statistically analyzed. Results display good evidence of the gathering of edible wild fruits and seeds. Other gathering practices are not documented. Edible fruits and seeds seem to have been gathered mainly from ruderal spring weed communities and, possibly, from forest clearances and hedge communities. Fragmentation appears to be less of a discriminating factor than number of plant remains and carbonization.     

Wild fruit use among early farmers in the Neolithic (5400–2300 cal <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">bc</Emphasis>) in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula: an intensive practice?

The archaeobotanical record of 24 sites from the Neolithic period (5400–2300 cal bc) in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula is evaluated. Remarkable amounts of data have recently been obtained for the early and middle Neolithic phases. Most of the studied sites were dry and they only yielded charred plant material. Among dry sites, several types of context were evaluated: dwelling areas, hearths, roasting pits and byres. Material was also analysed from a waterlogged cultural layer of one early Neolithic lakeshore site, La Draga. Quercus sp. (acorns), Corylus avellana L. (hazelnuts), Pistacia lentiscus L. (mastic fruits) and Vitis vinifera L. var. sylvestris (wild grapes) were among the most frequently encountered fruits and seeds. Their presence in the archaeobotanical record clearly maps their past ecological distribution in the region. There are differences observed between the charred dry-land material and the waterlogged uncharred material. Wild fruits were mostly present in an uncharred state in La Draga. Therefore, their consumption could go unnoticed in dry sites when fruits were eaten raw or without roasting. Larger amounts of charred remains of certain wild fruits like acorns and hazelnuts found in mountain areas are highlighted as potential evidence of the regular practice of roasting, potentially indicating regional traditions. All in all, our results support an intensive wild plant use at least during the first 1,300 years of the Neolithic period. Evidence of wild plant food consumption becomes scanty towards the second phase of the middle and the late Neolithic (4th and 3rd millennium cal bc). This, however, might also be due to taphonomic reasons.     

Anatomy and development of fruits of Lauraceae from the Middle Eocene Princeton Chert

Investigations of the Middle Eocene Princeton Chert reveal evidence for the connection of lauraceous flowers to fruits through a developmental series. Youngest fruits are found with attached floral remnants. Later stages show receptacle enlargement, fruit wall thickening, and the development of abundant sclereid clusters. Mature fruits are borne on a shallow receptacle and have an endocarp palisade layer of radially elongate cells with stellate outlines, an inner mesocarp layer of radiately arranged sclereid clusters, and a fleshy outer mesocarp layer containing numerous idioblasts with contents. Each mature fruit bears a single seed retaining the outer integument with an innermost radially elongate transfusion cell layer. Mature seeds contain a cellular embryo bearing idioblasts. Fruits are distinguishable from previously described anatomically preserved fossil taxa. This study represents the only documented developmental reconstruction of fossil fruits of Lauraceae and that self-pruning evolved prior to the Eocene. Anatomical modifications over the developmental sequence indicate that different stages of maturity preserved together, may be erroneously identified as several taxa at a fossil locality. Fossil morphotypes typically underestimate species number, but this study suggests that the number of inferred species based on fruit types may be inflated for Lauraceae, potentially exaggerating the tropical interpretation of the paleoenvironment.     

Identification and characterization of ten new water gaps in seeds and fruits with physical dormancy and classification of water-gap complexes

Background and Aims

Physical dormancy (PY) occurs in seeds or fruits of 18 angiosperm families and is caused by a water-impermeable palisade cell layer(s) in seed or fruit coats. Prior to germination, the seed or fruit coat of species with PY must become permeable in order to imbibe water. Breaking of PY involves formation of a small opening(s) (water gap) in a morpho-anatomically specialized area in seeds or fruits known as the water-gap complex. Twelve different water-gap regions in seven families have previously been characterized. However, the water-gap regions had not been characterized in Cucurbitaceae; clade Cladrastis of Fabaceae; subfamilies Bombacoideae, Brownlowioideae and Bythnerioideae of Malvaceae; Nelumbonaceae; subfamily Sapindoideae of Sapindaceae; Rhamnaceae; or Surianaceae. The primary aims of this study were to identify and describe the water gaps of these taxa and to classify all the known water-gap regions based on their morpho-anatomical features.

Methods

Physical dormancy in 15 species was broken by exposing seeds or fruits to wet or dry heat under laboratory conditions. Water-gap regions of fruits and seeds were identified and characterized by use of microtome sectioning, light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dye tracking and blocking experiments.

Key Results

Ten new water-gap regions were identified in seven different families, and two previously hypothesized regions were confirmed. Water-gap complexes consist of (1) an opening that forms after PY is broken; (2) a specialized structure that occludes the gap; and (3) associated specialized tissues. In some species, more than one opening is involved in the initial imbibition of water.

Conclusions

Based on morpho-anatomical features, three basic water-gap complexes (Types-I, -II and -III) were identified in species with PY in 16 families. Depending on the number of openings involved in initial imbibition, the water-gap complexes were sub-divided into simple and compound. The proposed classification system enables understanding of the relationships between the water-gap complexes of taxonomically unrelated species with PY.     

Archaeobotanical investigations in the Aisne valley, northern France, from the neolithic up to the early Middle Ages

Carbonized fruits and seeds retrieved during rescue excavations in the Aisne valley, France, and near surroundings are discussed. The time span covered is Neolithic through to the 6th century A.D. The sequence starts with the crop plants grown by Bandkeramik farmers. A later innovation was the introduction of naked wheat by the Neolithic Cerny culture. The early Iron Age brought major innovations such as a diversification in crops and the appearance of pastures.     

An archaeobotanical contribution to the history of watermelon,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Citrullus lanatus</Emphasis> (Thunb.) Matsum. &; Nakai (syn.<Emphasis Type="Italic"> C. vulgaris</Emphasis> Schrad.)

The discovery of several 5000-year old seeds of wild watermelon, Citrullus lanatus, at an archaeological site Uan Muhuggiag in southwest Libya, re-opens the debate on the origin, wild distribution and domestication history of this species. The seeds were found within a plant assemblage of wild seeds and fruits, associated with pottery and bones of domestic animals belonging to Neolithic pastoralists. The presumed wild progenitor of the modern cultivar C. lanatus is today found exclusively in a region centring on the Kalahari Desert. This new archaeobotanical record raises the possibility that this distribution was much more extensive in the past.     

WIND DISPERSAL OF FRUITS WITH VARIABLE SEED NUMBER IN A TROPICAL TREE (LONCHOCARPUS PENTAPHYLLUS: LEGUMINOSAE)

The tropical tree, Lonchocarpus pentaphyllus (Poir.) DC. (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae), matures indehiscent wind-dispersed fruits containing 0–4 seeds. Most fruits are one-seeded (82%) while less than 2% are three-seeded. An increase in seed number per fruit correlates with increases in four characteristics expected to affect dispersal distance under field conditions: fruit weight, fruit area, square root of wing-loading, and rate of descent in still air. The dry weight of a seed decreases with an increase in seed number per fruit. Under field conditions nearly 40% of the mature fruits fall within the radius of the tree crown. Fruits with more intact seeds are dispersed shorter distances; fruits with no developed seeds travel the farthest. Among one-seeded fruits dispersed beyond the crown radius, dispersal distance is inversely proportional to the square root of wing-loading. The weight of seed in these one-seeded fruits, however, is independent of dispersal distance. Fruits with more seeds have a higher proportion of underdeveloped seeds. However, a greater proportion of two- and three-seeded fruits have at least one intact mature seed than do one-seeded fruits. This comparative study illustrates that changes in fruit morphology and weight associated with different numbers of seeds per fruit affect dispersal properties as well. A decrease in seed number per fruit increases both seed weight and dispersal distance, but it decreases the probability that a given dispersal event results in movement of an intact seed.     

Fruit size and shape: Allometry at different taxonomic levels in bird-dispersed plants

Summary The likelihood that a plant's seeds will be dispersed by fruit-eating birds may depend upon the size and shape of its fruits. Assuming that elongate fruits can be swallowed more easily than spherical fruits of equal volume and that plant fitness is enhanced by seed dispersal by many individuals and species of birds, natural selection should favour increasing fruit elongation with increasing fruit size in bird-dispersed plants. According to this view, this allometric pattern would be adaptive. Alternatively, fruit shape in bird-dispersed plants may be constrained by development or phylogeny. To determine whether there was any evidence to support the adaptive allometry hypothesis, we examined allometric relationships between length and diameter in fruits and seeds in a group of neotropical bird-dispersed plant species. Using the major axis technique, we regressed ln(diameter) on ln(length) for fruits and seeds at various taxonomic levels: (1) within individual trees ofOcotea tenera (Lauraceae) (2) among 19 trees within a population ofO. tenera, as well as among pooled fruits from multiple trees within 20 other species in the Lauraceae, (3) among 25 sympatric species within a plant family (Lauraceae) and (4) among 167 species representing 63 angiosperm families within a plant community in Monteverde, Costa Rica. At most taxonomic levels, a tendency for fruit length to increase more rapidly than fruit diameter among fruits (negative allometry) occurred more frequently than expected by chance. Estimated slopes of the regressions of fruit length on fruit diameter were < 1 within 15 of the 19 individualO. tenera trees, among tree means withinO. tenera, among pooled fruits within 16 of the 20 other species in the Lauraceae, among species means within the Lauraceae and among means of all bird-dispersed species in the lower montane forests of Monteverde. Seed allometry showed similar patterns, although for both fruits and seeds the broad confidence intervals of the slopes estimated by major axis regression overlapped 1 in many cases. Among the 63 Monteverde family means, fruit length and diameter scaled isometrically. Based on measurements of ontogenetic changes in fruit shape in a single species,O. viridifolia, we found no evidence that negative allometry in fruit shape within the Lauraceae was an inevitable consequence of developmental constraints. Instead, increasing elongation of fruits and seeds in certain plant taxa is consistent with adaptation to gape-limited avian seed dispersers. Contrary results from vertebrate-dispersed species from Malawi and Spain may reflect differences between the New and Old World in plant taxa, seed dispersers or evolutionary history.     

河南淅川坑南遗址石制品表面残留淀粉粒的初步分析

本文分析了河南淅川坑南遗址新石器早期2个层位出土的35件石制品的淀粉粒,在17件石制品表面发现150粒淀粉粒,它们可能分别来自黍族(包括黍属、糠稷或粟属)、薏苡属、小麦族秸秆和根茎类植物,一定程度反映了该地区先民植物资源的利用情况。第②与第③层淀粉粒数量和种类的对比表明,第②层淀粉粒数量和种类都有着大幅增加,一种可能是不同层位埋藏环境的差别导致淀粉粒保存情况的不同,另一种可能是与当时先民获取更多种类的植物资源有关。同一类型石制品表面淀粉粒数量与种类的差别,也暗示了不同石料本身硬度、孔隙对淀粉粒的吸附与捕获能力的影响。     

Composition and seasonal dynamics of seed rain in broad-leaved Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) mixed forest in Changbai Mountain, China

To explore the composition and spatio-temporal dynamics of seed rain in broad-leaved Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) mixed forest, 150 seed traps were set up in a 25 hm2 plot in Changbai Mountain. Seeds, fruits, anthotaxy and others in seed traps were collected, identified and divided into 4 types. From 2005 to 2006, we collected 47 different types. Total number of seeds and fruits was 121291, including 23147 mature seeds and fruits (19.1% of the total). Tilia amurensis and Fraxinus mandshurica, with the most seeds and fruits, accounted for 90% of the total. The analysis on seasonal dynamics of seed rain showed that there were the largest number of seeds and fruits between July and October, which were composed of immature seeds and fruits. In mid-October, mature seeds and fruits reached their peak, but immature seeds and fruits still accounted for high proportion. There were 91 traps that contained 100–200 mature seeds and fruits, and one trap without any mature seed or fruit. The largest number of species found in a trap was 7, and usually 3 or 4 species were found in most of the traps. There were obvious relationships between spatial patterns of mature seeds and fruits and their parent trees, indicating that their mature seeds and fruits were not dispersed far from their parent trees.     

Litchi chinensis fatty acid diversity: occurrence of the unusual cyclopropanoic fatty acids

Litchi chinensis (Sapindaceae) is a tree that originates from China and is cultivated for its sweet fruits all over the world in warm climates. Unusual fatty acids such as cyclopropanoic fatty acids have been identified in the seeds of Litchi. Because of their potential value for industry (as inks, cosmetics, detergents, lubricants, etc.), the variability in the relative levels of unusual fatty acids in the seeds of 28 different Litchi varieties was analysed at two locations (on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean) and on two different harvest dates. Except for one variety, all the seeds contained cis-9,10-methylene-octadecanoic acid (C(19)CA) at a relative level of 35-48%. The only variety that contained no or only traces of C(19)CA was Groff, seeds of which were significantly much smaller than those from all other varieties.     

A preliminary investigation of pre-dispersal seed predation by Acanthoscelides schrankiae Horn (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) in Mimosa bimucronata (DC.) Kuntze trees

This is the first record of Acanthoscelides schrankiae Horn. feeding in seeds of Mimosa bimucronata (DC.) Kuntze. We investigated the pattern of oviposition and seed exploitation by A. schrankiae, and the distribution of mature fruits and seed predation in the inflorescences. We also compared the percentage of predated seeds, the total dry weight of fruits and non-predated seeds, the percentage of aborted seeds, and the percentage of non-emergent insects, among different quadrants of the M. bimucronata canopy. To determine the occurring species, the emergence of bruchids and parasitoids was observed in the laboratory, resulting altogether, only in individuals of A. schrankiae and Horismenus sp. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) species, respectively. Mean number of fruits produced in the median region of inflorescence was significantly higher than in the inferior and superior regions, and the frequencies (observed and expected) of predated and non-predated seeds differed among the different regions of inflorescence. Females of A. schrankiae laid their eggs on fruits, and larvae, after emergence, perforated the exocarp to reach the seeds. Most fruits presented one to three eggs and only one bruchid larva was observed in each seed. The highest value of the rate "number of eggs/fruit" and the highest percentage of predated seeds were recorded in April. Dry weight of fruits (total) and seeds (non-predated), proportions of predated seeds, seed abortions, and non-emergent seed predators, were evenly distributed in the canopy.     

Fruits foraging patterns and seed dispersal effect of frugivorous birds on Hippophae rhamnoides sinensis

Behaviors of 18 species of birds eating fruits of Hippophae rhamnoides spp.sinensis were observed from September 2003 to March 2004.Their foraging patterns were found to be very different and Can be divided into five classes:(1)direct swallowing the fruits on crown of the shrubs and sometimes regurgitating seeds soon after;(2)carrying the fruits to their perching sites and swallowing;(3)pecking the fruits from the shrubs to the ground,eating pulp and seeds but leaving pericarp;(4)pecking through the pericarp,eating pulp and leaving pericarp and seeds;(5)pecking through the pericarp on the top of fruits,and only eating seeds.These foraging patterns have different effects on seed dispersal of H.rhamnoides spp.sinensis.The germination experiment of three groups of seeds(seeds from feces,dry fruits and extracted seeds from dry fruits)was carried out.Although ingestion processes of birds had some adverse effects on the seed germination of H.rhamnoides spp.sinensis,the seeds from feces still have a relatively higher germination ratio.H.rhamnoides spp.sinensis provides food to a variety of frugivorous birds.and the birds disperse its seeds.Thus,a mutually beneficial relationship between the bird and the seed is formed.     

Beautiful fruits taste good: the aesthetic influences of fruit preferences in humans

Although diversity of fruit/seed colouration has received a great amount of attention since Darwin, little is known about its role in eating preferences in humans. We have determined that humans prefer certain fruits/seeds over others and that their willingness to eat them has been significantly influenced by the perceived aesthetic of the presented fruits and seeds. Participants were unable to discriminate between edible and poisonous fruits/ seeds based on their colour. Females rated all the groups of fruits/seeds as more attractive than males with this supporting the role of females in picking fruit in our evolutionary past. Red fruits were rated as more attractive than green or brown fruits. The results support the idea that fruit/seed colouration plays an important role in plant--disperser coevolution and that aesthetic judgment in humans have been shaped by natural selection.     

VARIATION IN AVERAGE SEED SIZE AND FRUIT SEEDINESS IN A FRUIT CROP OF A GUANACASTE TREE (LEGUMINOSAE: ENTEROLOBIUM CYCLOCARPUM)

A detailed examination of the ordinary 1980 fruit crop of an ordinary large adult guanacaste tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica (1980) shows that for fruits with about 6-16 seeds (range, 1-18 seeds per fruit) there is about ***1 g dry weight fruit tissue per seed (seeds averaging about 820 m each). Fruits that have about 1-5 seeds on average have 1.5-3 times as much dry fruit tissue per seed as do the seed-rich fruits, and also contain seeds that weigh about 8% more on average than the seeds in the seed-rich fruits. The average seed weight per fruit was found to decrease slightly if all sizes of fruits are considered, but to remain essentially constant over the range of 7-16-seeded fruits. This category contained 78% of the fruits. These findings suggest that different parts of the seed crop may end up in different dispersers and dispersers with different preferences for fruit seediness and tolerances for seed size may remove different portions of the seed crop.