(Smithsonian contributions to botany) 39 pages
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press (1998)
Language: English
One of the major uses of phytolith analysis is the reconstruction of regional environmental histories. As a relatively new subset of paleoecology, reference collections and studies of phytolith
distributions and morphology are still relatively few. This article summarizes a study of
phytolith form and distribution across a broad spectrum of 77 families of both monocotyledons
and dicotyledons. A total of 800 samples from different plant parts of 377 species were analyzed,
with diagnostic phytoliths occurring in nine monocotyledon and 26 dicotyledon families. These
diagnostic types are described and illustrated herein. Poaceae phytoliths were not included in
this review because they warrant more detailed and systematic description. The wide
distribution of diagnostic phytoliths across all basic habitats described for Thailand,
demonstrated herein, indicates that phytolith analysis has great potential for paleoecological
reconstruction.
