Premium
ANOMALOUS SOLITARY FLOWERS ON ANTHER‐DERIVED PLANTS OF POPULUS MAXIMOWICZII
Author(s) -
Stoehr Michael U.,
Zsuffa Louis,
Eckenwalder James E.
Publication year - 1988
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.1537-2197.1988.tb13479.x
Subject(s) - stamen , biology , pollen , botany , salicaceae , inflorescence , calyx , woody plant
In five of 66 anther‐derived plants of Populus maximowiczii Henry (Salicaceae) unusual flowers were observed at ages six to eight months. Most flowers were male, occurring singly in a terminal position, and were characterized by cup‐shaped, calyx‐like floral discs bearing 14 to 18 stamens. The anthers failed to dehisce but did contain a few pollen grains when observed after squashing. One flower had, in addition to a set of stamens, two stigmas emerging from undeveloped ovaries. These flowers in haploid or dihaploid plants are in some ways similar to ancestral flowers that have been hypothesized for the Salicaceae, and may give an indication of the evolutionary pathway in the genus Populus.