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A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY OF EXTRAFLORAL NECTARIES IN SLIPPER SPURGE (PEDILANTHUS TITHYMALOIDES, EUPHORBIACEAE)
Author(s) -
Dave Y. S.,
Patel N. D.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1975.tb14119.x
Subject(s) - nectar , biology , botany , stipe (mycology) , stamen , anatomy , pollen
Slipper spurge (Pedilanthus tithymaloides) bears one or two stalked extrafloral nectaries on either side of the leaf base and one at the leaf tip. The mature nectary is differentiated into multicellular zones: head, neck, and stipe. The nectary arises as a small group of meristematic cells with densely staining cytoplasm and nuclei. The columnar secretory cells show changes in their chemical nature at different developmental stages of the nectary. There is a basipetal sequence in the development and decay of the tissues in the nectary. Decay of the nectary begins at the head, abscission occurs at the line between stipe and neck regions, and the scars of the fallen nectaries are left when the stipe cells also collapse.