Annals of Botany 117: 709–724, 2016 doi:10.1093/aob/mcw017, available online at www.aob.oxfordjournals.org VIEWPOINT: PART OF A SPECIAL ISSUE ON DEVELOPMENTAL ROBUSTNESS AND SPECIES DIVERSITY Obdiplostemony: the occurrence of a transitional stage linking robust flower configurations Louis Ronse De Craene1* and Kester Bull-Herenu~ 2,3,4 1Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, 2Departamento de Ecologıa, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, 3 4 Santiago, Chile, Escuela de Pedagogıa en Biologıa y Ciencias, Universidad Central de Chile and Fundacion Flores, Ministro Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/aob/article/117/5/709/1742492 by guest on 24 December 2020 Carvajal 30, Santiago, Chile * For correspondence. E-mail
[email protected] Received: 17 July 2015 Returned for revision: 1 September 2015 Accepted: 23 December 2015 Published electronically: 24 March 2016 Background and Aims Obdiplostemony has long been a controversial condition as it diverges from diploste- mony found among most core eudicot orders by the more external insertion of the alternisepalous stamens. In this paper we review the definition and occurrence of obdiplostemony, and analyse how the condition has impacted on floral diversification and species evolution. Key Results Obdiplostemony represents an amalgamation of at least five different floral developmental pathways, all of them leading to the external positioning of the alternisepalous stamen whorl within a two-whorled androe- cium. In secondary obdiplostemony the antesepalous stamens arise before the alternisepalous stamens. The position of alternisepalous stamens at maturity is more external due to subtle shifts of stamens linked to a weakening of the alternisepalous sector including stamen and petal (type I), alternisepalous stamens arising de facto externally of antesepalous stamens (type II) or alternisepalous stamens shifting outside due to the sterilization of antesepalous sta- mens (type III: Sapotaceae).