Key to some Brassicaceae (Crucifreae) taxa based on fruit and seed morpho-biometery

Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) with more than 3660 species in the world and about 900 species in Irano-Turanian region having the highest diversity, includes annual, biennial, perennial herbs or shrubs. The family members are mainly distributed on the earth land surface exceptional Antarctica and tropics. Despite having silique fruit, they have many variations in exo-morphology and other properties of fruits and seeds that are important in their diagnosis and identification. Studies of these characters can revealed the relationship between taxa and used for their taxonomy. In addition, the identification of seeds and fruits is important in agriculture, food industry and weed control. Thirty two quantitative and qualitative fruit and seed characters of 24 collected wild Brassicaceae taxa from the central Iran in Irano-Touranian region were examined using ruler, digital calipers, millimeter paper, graticule and a monitoring zoom binocular light microscope. Obtained data were recorded and then a key was prepared based on the studied Brassicaceae fruit and seed morpho-biometric. Results showed morpho-biometrical studies of siliques and seeds of Irano-Touranian Brassicaceae members may support identification of the family taxa.