Comparative flower morphology of the Anthericum liliago and Cordyline fruticosa (Asparagaceae)
Abstract
The structure of Anthericum liliago and Cordyline fruticosa flowers was studied on permanent cross-sectional and longitu dinal sections using a light microscope. The genus Anthericum belongs to the subfamily Agavoideae, the family Asparagaceae, which is characterized by the capsular spherical to three-faced fruit. The flowers are pollinated by hymenopterans, while the seed s are distributed by the wind and flowering period extends from June through August. The genus Cordyline belongs to the subfamily Lomandroideae, the family Asparagaceae and has small white to mauve flowers form ed on panicles. Flowering occurs from September to October. Fruit is an orange-red berry, ripening from December to March. This species propagates easily from seeds, suckers or stem cuttings. Micromorphological studies of the flower are considered as a way for detection of unknown plant features, adjustment of plants to specialized ways of pollination and determining the first stages of morphog e nesis of fruit, and further use of these features in taxonomy. 15 flowers of A . liliago and C . fruticosa were sectioned using standard methods of Paraplast embedding and serial sectioning at 20 micron thickness. Sections were stained with s afranin and Astra Blau and mounted in Eukitt. It was found that in the studied species the tepals have three-bundle traces. The vascular system of A . liliago consists of three dorsal bundles of the carpel and three pairs of smaller vascular bundles – roots of the ventral complex, which branch higher and form twelve bundles of the carpel (ventral complex) at the level of the ovary base. The outer vascular bundles form three-bundle traces of the outer and inner tepals, the other vascular bundles merge and form a continuous central cylinder. The trace of the ovules is single-bundle. For the first time, the following gynoecium zones were detected in A . liliago : sterile synascidiate with a height of about 360 μm, symplicate 180 μm, fertile hemisymplicate with a height of 1100 μm – the middle part of the ovary with two ovules and asymplicate. The total height of the septal nectary is 1580 μm. The vascular system of C . fruticosa forms a circle of seven vascular bundles, from which three dorsal carpel bundles extend and, in the center, there remain three vascular bundles on the radii of the septa – the roots of the ventral complex. Each of the three ventral bundles of the gynoecium divides into two, forming six ventral vascular bundles, which are located in the ovary septa and form the traces of the ovules. The trace of the ovules is single-bundle. In the gynoecium of C . fruticosa there are three vertical zones: a short sterile synascidiate with a height of about 220 μm, fertile hemisymplicate with a height of 1540 μm – the middle part of the ovary and asymplicate. The total height of the septal nectary is 1720 μm. The ovary roof is 200 μm in A . liliago and 320 μm in Cordyline fruticosa . Triple dorsal bundles of carpels in C . fruticosa have been identified, which could be considered as adaptation of different stages of morphogenesis of fruit to dehiscence. The new data obtained by the vascular anatomy of the flower and the presence of different ovary zones are a significant addition to information about anatomical and morphological features of the studied species, which can be further used in the taxonomy of the family Asp a ragaceae.References
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