MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS of TROPICAL BULBS and ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS on FLOWERING and BULB DEVELOPMENT of Habranthus Robustus and Zephyranthes Spp

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MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS of TROPICAL BULBS and ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS on FLOWERING and BULB DEVELOPMENT of Habranthus Robustus and Zephyranthes Spp MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF TROPICAL BULBS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON FLOWERING AND BULB DEVELOPMENT OF Habranthus robustus AND Zephyranthes spp. By CAMILA BRITO PAULA A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2006 Copyright 2006 by Camila Brito Paula This document is dedicated to my husband and to my parents in Brazil. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank Dr. Rick Schoellhorn for giving me the opportunity of entering the “plant world,” for believing that an architect could be able to learn some science and for serving as my major advisor for the first half of the process of my research. I thank Dr. Dennis McConnell for playing a large role in my research from the beginning, for making my “bulb-killing” experience much more enjoyable, for accepting the challenge of becoming the chair of my committee in the middle of the process, and also for his enormous patience and willingness to help me during the preparation of this thesis. I thank Dr. Wagner Vendrame for helping me start this whole process and for much advice. I also thank Dr. Alan Meerow for serving on my supervisory committee. I thank Mrs. Fe Almira for her immense help with the images of this thesis, Mrs Carolyn Bartuska for her help with experiments set ups and statistical analysis, and Robert Weidman and his crew for all their greenhouse assistance. I would like to thank my husband for the encouragement, the emotional and “technical” support, for his love and friendship. And I thank my mom and dad for their unconditional love, “long-distance” support and for giving me the educational and emotional base that allowed me to achieve my dreams. Lastly, I would like to thank all the friends I made in Gainesville, especially Carmen Valero-Aracama. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................xv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 2 LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................................................6 Aerial Organs and Tissues............................................................................................8 Underground Tissues....................................................................................................8 Taxonomy and Origin of Geophytes ............................................................................9 Geophytes Growth and Development...........................................................................9 Dormancy ...................................................................................................................10 Flowering Process.......................................................................................................12 Anatomy and Physiology of Flower Initiation ....................................................14 Factors Affecting Flower Initiation.....................................................................17 Photoperiod ..................................................................................................18 Light quality and quantity ............................................................................18 Temperature .................................................................................................19 Vernalization ................................................................................................20 Flower Initiation Process in Bulbous Plants........................................................21 Flower Bulb Cultivation .............................................................................................21 Flower Bulb Forcing...................................................................................................22 Tropical Bulbs and Amaryllidaceae ...........................................................................24 Hippeastrum spp.........................................................................................................25 Scadoxus multiflorus – Blood Lily .............................................................................26 Agapanthus africanus – African Lily .........................................................................27 Habranthus robustus and Zephyranthes spp. – Rain Lilies........................................28 3 BULB MORPHOLOGY ............................................................................................31 Comparative Study .....................................................................................................31 v Materials and Methods ........................................................................................31 Results and Discussion........................................................................................33 Bulb type and size ........................................................................................33 Leaf arrangement and morphology ..............................................................37 Floral initiation.............................................................................................41 Meristematic region......................................................................................48 General anatomical and morphological arrangement...................................55 Experiment 1...............................................................................................................60 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................61 Results .................................................................................................................61 4 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS – FERTIGATION FREQUENCY AND FERTILIZER RATES ON FLOWERING IN Habranthus robustus AND Zephyranthes spp........................................................................................................64 Experiment 1...............................................................................................................67 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................67 Results and Discussion........................................................................................69 Experiment 2...............................................................................................................84 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................84 Results and Discussion........................................................................................86 5 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS – LIGHT LEVELS ON FLOWERING AND BULB DEVELOPMENT IN Habranthus robustus AND Zephyranthes SPP...........93 Materials and Methods ...............................................................................................94 Experiment 1 .......................................................................................................94 Experiment 2 .......................................................................................................96 Results and Discussion ...............................................................................................97 Experiment 1 .......................................................................................................97 Experiment 2 .....................................................................................................100 6 CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................113 LIST OF REFERENCES.................................................................................................119 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...........................................................................................127 vi LIST OF TABLES Table page 3-1 Tropical geophytes used in the morphological studies ............................................32 3-2 Geophyte size and characteristics of plants examined .............................................34 3-3 Leaf size of plants examined....................................................................................39 3-4 Relationship between leaf and flower formation, and number of flowers per inflorescence of plants examined .............................................................................43 4-1 Mean bulb size and weight prior to experiment.......................................................85 5-1 Photometric readings and temperatures at three locations / treatments ...................96 5-2 Rainfall monthly summary in inches for Gainesville area in 2004 and 2005 according to the Florida Automated Weather Network ...........................................97 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 3-1 From left to right Zephyranthes, Habranthus, Hippeastrum, Scadoxus bulbs, and immature Agapanthus rhizome.. ..............................................................................35 3-2 Sections of Zephyranthes bulbs................................................................................35
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