The Floral Anatomy of the Avocado Author(S): Philip C
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The Floral Anatomy of the Avocado Author(s): Philip C. Reece Reviewed work(s): Source: American Journal of Botany, Vol. 26, No. 6 (Jun., 1939), pp. 429-433 Published by: Botanical Society of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2436847 . Accessed: 09/02/2013 20:39 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Botanical Society of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal of Botany. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Sat, 9 Feb 2013 20:39:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions REGENERATION OF ROOTS FROM TRANSPLANTED COTYLEDONS OF ALFALFA, MEDICAGO SATIVA' Orville T. Wilson THE WRITER has called attentionto the readiness species, Medicago sativa L. was the only one which with which cuttingsof alfalfa regenerateroots failed to regenerate roots. As this result was con- (Wilson, 1915). I,a Rue (1933) listed forty-two tradictory to the writer's experience with alfalfa, additional experimentswere carried out to test the regeneratingcapacity of the cotyledons. In these experiments the cotyledons were re- moved from seedlings in the early juvenile leaf stage and set, cut end down, in moist greenhouse __|_E!R" soil, with most of the blade exposed. A glass cover was placed over them to prevent excessive evapora- tion, but this was removed after the first week. Afterthree weeks, approximately 50 per cent of the cotyledons were green and healthy (80 per cent in one experiment). When these were removed from the soil, they were found to be well rooted in a ma- Fg Rote eoyedn of alala Medcg sativ jority of cases. In one experiment sixty-seven L. Arhu Blickle X1I5 Phtgrp by cotyledons out of one hundred transplanted, regen- erated roots. Two rooted cotyledons are shown in figure1. For an adequate discussion of the problem of root regenerationfrom cotyledons the reader is referred to La Rue's paper (1933). The present record serves only to supplement the long list of positive results there presented. DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY, UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI, CINCINNATI, OHIO species of plants of which he tested the regenera- LITERATURE CITED tion of roots from cotyledons by transferringthe WILSON, 0. T. 1915. Vegetative regeneration of alfalfa. removed cotyledons to moist filter paper in Petri Science N. S. 42: 126-127. dishes and noting development. Of the forty-two LA RUE, C. D. 1933. Regeneration in mutilated seed- 1 Received for publication April 24, 1939. lings. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 19: 53-63. THE FLORAL ANATOMY OF THE AVOCADO' Philip C. Reece THIS STUDY of the anatomy of avocado flowersis All the cultivated varieties of avocados belong to a part of an investigation now under way on the the single species, Persea americana Mill. (Persea familyLauraceae. This article is to be followed by a gratissima Gaertn.) report on fruitbud formationof avocados and by a The regular, bisexual, trimerous flowers of Per- morphologicalinterpretation of the apparent evolu- sea are borne in cymose panicles. The floral plan tionary tendencies in the Lauraceae, based upon of three, so conspicuous in this species, is popu- comparative data. larly associated with monocotyledonous angio- The family inhabits the tropical regions of the sperms. However, this fundamental plan of three Americas, Asia, Australia, and Polynesia. The avo- is more prevalent among dicotyledons than is gen- cado is native to Central America and Mexico. Its erally realized. The yellow or greenish six-parted in the culture has now become a thrivingindustry perianth consists of two whorls upon which are in- relatively frost-freeareas of California and Florida. serted four stamen whorls of three members each. I Received for publication April 26, 1939. The writerwishes to expresshis appreciationto Dr. The anthers of the two outer whorls are introrse. A. J. Eames, who,by his advice and criticism,aided in Those of the third whorl are extrorse and bear the developmentof thismanuscript. Part of the research glands on each side of the filamentnear the point here reportedwas carried on in the laboratoryof the Departmentof Botany,Cornell University, Ithaca, New of attachment on the perianth. The fourth whorl York. has been reduced to gland-like staminodes. The uni- 429 This content downloaded on Sat, 9 Feb 2013 20:39:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 480 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY (Vol. 26. 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \ 2 ~ ~~~~~C62 2o 00 10~_ S 9~~~N 3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ..... 7 % ..~~~~~ \\4 ........ .9 0 S.T ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . 34 0 -10 t 1 c E~ 101{'I This content downloaded on Sat, 9 Feb 2013 20:39:47 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions June, 1939] REECE-AVOCADO 431 locular ovary is superior. The simple style is ter- All the stamens have three traces traversing the minated by a small obtuse stigma. The solitary, major portion of the filament.The lateral veins in pendulous, anatropous ovule ripens to produce a each filamentweaken and disappear below the an- very large seed which is devoid of endosperm. The thers. Each stamen of the third whorl possesses a seed coat is membranous. gland on each side of the filamentnear the base. Examination of sections of the pedicel reveals The glands are supplied by two additional veins the vascular tissue arranged in a siphonostele. Six which arise by the radial forkingof the outer veins areas of primary xylem stand out sharply, with the in the filamentbase. Then five traces are in a row tissue in the intervening regions in a procambial (fig. 5). The veins enter the glands above the level state (fig. 1). At higher levels, approaching the re- at which the membersof all the whorls become free ceptacle, these areas depart fromthe stele and pass (fig. 6). through the cortex as six tepal traces. (The term The single, large anatropous ovule is attached to tepal is used in this reportto designate any perianth the parietal placenta near the top of the loculus. A segment, regardless of whether it is a member of bundle, which has been formed by the fused ven- the inner or outer whorl. At this point, no attempt trals, enters the funiculusof the ovule and continues is made to identify the segments as sepals or pet- down the opposite side through the raphe (fig. 7). als.) Three traces advance slightly ahead of the The bundle in the ovule branches profusely, so that others and supply the outer perianth whorl (fig. 2). the integumentis traversed by a network of veins. After the departure of the tepal traces, the gaps These are conspicuously developed in the seed coat left in the stele quickly close. Only a limited amount when the fruit is mature. of vascular tissue remains. The stele "shrinks" to- The fourth androecium whorl consists of three ward the center of the axis, as the end of the recep- staminodes, which are not as high as the ovary. tacle is approached (fig. 3). The carpellary traces The anthers of the stamens of the two outer whorls depart near the tip of the axis as the stele "closes are introrse,those of the third whorl are extrorse, in." The carpellary supply consists of a dorsal trace and are borne on long filaments which extend to (midrib), two or more lateral traces, and two ven- about twice the height of the ovary. The dorsal and tral traces (marginal veins) which are united into two lateral carpellary traces extend up throughthe a single, morphologically compound vascular bun- simple style (fig. 8). The lateral traces disappear dle. These traces enter the ovary (fig. 4) with the below the stigma. The strong dorsal trace extends dorsal trace lying along the radius of a member of into the stigma (fig. 9). the outer perianth whorl. The ventral trace stands It is becoming generally recognized that imper- directly opposite the dorsal or at an angle of 1800. fect or incomplete flowershave attained that condi- The membersof each perianth whorl are coherent tion through simplificationand loss of parts. They at the base, as well as adnate to each adj acent are simple through reduction and not primitively whorl. A cup is thus formed around the base of the simple. Anatomical evidence of such simplification ovary by the periantb with the stamens perigy- after nously inserted upon it. In this cup, the tepal traces persists long external evidence has disap- divide, indicating that at lower levels the bundles peared. Therefore anatomical investigation of the are morphologically compound. The branching of floral anatomy supplies valuable criteria for a mor- the bundles is in a tangential plane, so that a tepal phological interpretationof the flower. trace and two stamen traces lie upon the same ra- Considerable differenceof opinion exists regard- dius. This is immediatelyfollowed by branching in ing the nature of the perianth in this genus. Small the radial plane. Traces apparently form a reticu- (1913) believes that the perianth consists of six late vein system with anastomosing connections be- deciduous sepals, in two series, united at the base. tween the vascular supplies of the various whorls Popenoe (1914) refers to the perianth as a "ca- (fig. 4). lyx deeply six-parted,-the corolla wanting." Gray Fig. 1-10. Persea americana Mill. In these figures: S, sepal (outer tepal) midrib; P, petal (inner tepal) midrib; ST, stamen bundle; ST', staminode bundle; G, gland; D, dorsal carpellary trace; V, ventral carpellary trace; L, lat- eral carpellary trace; T, ovule trace.-Fig.