P-type sieve-element plastids present in members of the tribesTriplareae andCoccolobeae (Polygonaceae) renew the links between thePolygonales and theCaryophyllales

Form-Pfs sieve-element plastids were found inTriplaris, Ruprechtia, andCoccoloba (Polygonaceae) while other genera of the family and those studied from the often associatedPlumbaginaceae contain S-type sieve-element plastids. The rareness of form-Pfs plastids among the angiosperms, their similarity to the peculiar form-P3fs plastids of theChenopodiineae, and the comparatively small plastid diameters measured for all forms present in theCaryophyllales, Polygonales, andPlumbaginales suggest close relationships between these taxa. The restriction inPolygonaceae of form-Pfs plastids to the closely allied tribesTriplareae andCoccolobeae is discussed with regard to both the intrafamilial and ordinal phylogeny, and also considering possible connections to the only magnoliidaean Pfs-taxonCanella. Dedicated to Univ.-Prof. DrF. Ehrendorfer on the occasion of his 70th birthday.