Manihot caerulescens and M. tripartita are shrub species of cerrado, known as "mandioca-brava". Works on structure of pericarp of Euphorbiaceae are rare and many of the found morphologic descriptions present dubious interpretations, especially on the dehiscence. The present work aimed to describe the morphology, anatomy and ontogeny of pericarp of the two species of Manihot, comparing themselves and relating structural aspects of pericarp to the dehiscence. We verified that the pericarp follow four developmental periods, as typical of dry fruits. Two meristems are formed: a subadaxial, that produces the inner mesocarp; and another adaxial, that forms the endocarp, homogeneous and collenchymatous in M. caerulescens, and heterogeneous in M. tripartita, with outer gelatinous fiber-sclereids and an collenchymatous inner portion. We observed the formation of separation tissue, composed of loose parenchyma, in direction to the dorsal bundle of the three carpels and to the septa, which are more evident in M. tripartita. Finally, we verified variation in the sclerenchymatous stratum: in M. caerulescens, there is a layer of fiber-sclereids and one of stone cells, both of the mesocarp; in M. tripartita, these two mesocarpic layers occur, with bigger thickness, increased of the outer endocarp, also composed of fiber-sclereids. The fruits of both species are capsules which type depends on the development of separation tissue and of the dimension of sclerenchymatous stratum. Thus M. caerulescens presents indehiscent capsules, while M. tripartita forms septi-loculicidal capsules, since the dehiscence, even so passive, occurs in the dorsal regions and in the direction to septa.
anatomy; development; Manihot; morphology; pericarp
