Fruit and Seed Structure of Thryptomene calycina (Myrtaceae)

1993 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 183 ◽  
Author(s):  
DV Beardsell ◽  
RB Knox ◽  
EG Williams

At anthesis the receptacle of flowers of T. calycina (Lindl.) Stapf is enclosed by a layer of small cells with a thick cuticle. The hypodermis consists mostly of large oil-containing cells interspersed with much smaller cells. The tissue surrounding the ovary consists mostly of spongy parenchyma. The micropyle of the ovule is formed only by the inner integument which is double-layered. The embryo sac at anthesis is typical of the Myrtaceae, and appears to follow the monosporic polygonum type, with considerable nucellar tissue surrounding it. In a mature fruit the parenchyma is compressed into a thin band surrounding the seed. The integuments form a two-layered seed coat within the fruit. The aborted ovule is displaced below and to one side of the developing seed. In fruit weathered for several years there is an accumulation of phenolic material giving the fruit a black appearance. The two layers of the seed coat within freshly shed fruit lie closely together and stain strongly with the lipid stain auramine O. In fruit weathered for at least 2 years the two layers of the seed coat become separated for at least part of their length and staining from auramine O is less intense. The breakdown in seed dormancy in weathered fruits is probably due to a less complete barrier to water uptake provided by the separation of the two layers. This would increase lateral and radial movement of water. The observed reduction in the hydrophobic lipid content of the testa layers probably also aids water entry into the seed in a weathered fruit.


Bothalia ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. A. Steyn ◽  
A. E. Van Wyk ◽  
G. F. Smith

Scolopia zeyheri (Nees) Harv. is a widespread African tree and a member of the largest genus of the tropical Old World tribe Scolopieae (Salicaceae sensu lato). This light microscopic study is the first report on ovule and seed structure in the genus and the tribe. Ovules vary from four to six per ovary, are anatropous. crassinucellate. bitegmic and occur in an epitropous (rarely pleurotropous). median-parietal position in the unilocular, usually bicarpellate ovary. A very extensive nucellus cap. comprising nucellus epidermal derivatives and parietal tissue, characterizes the young ovule during mega- sporogenesis and megagametogenesis, but the chalazal nucellus is poorly developed. During meiosis. the micropvlar dyad cell degenerates early. The functional dyad cell forms two megaspores of which the chalazal one usually develops into a Polygonum-type embryo sac. At maturity, the micropylar end of the embryo sac is covered by the remnants of the nucellus epidermis, the parietal tissue having degenerated. The globular embryo has a short suspensor and lies in nuclear endosperm becoming cellular. The seed coat develops from both integuments, is tannimferous. has a glabrous surface with stomata and a single layer of exotegmic, longitudinal fibres.Results are compared with relevant information previously reported for genera in the tribes Flacourtieae. Samvdeae. Saliceae, Scyphostegiae and for Oncoha Forssk. (Salicaceae sensu lato). Embryologically Scolopia shows a number of ple- siomorphic features compared to other Salicaceae. For example, it lacks an extranucellar embryo sac. an apomorphic fea­ture in many Salicaceae. A summary of ovule and seed characters in Salicaceae sensu lato is given and contrasted with data available for Achariaceae  sensu lato. Embryological data broadly supports the reclassification of genera, traditionally referred to Flacourtiaceae. amongst Salicaceae sensu lato and Achariaceae sensu lato.



2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Maria Carmello-Guerreiro ◽  
Adelita Aparecida Sartori Paoli

The aim of the present work was to record anatomical data for the fruit and seed of Lithraea molleoides (Vell.) Engl, and compare the results with those for L. brasiliensis and the genera Schinus and Rhus. The L. molleoides fruit was a drupe with a friable and lignified exocarp. The mesocarp was parenchymatous with large secretory canals associated with vascular bundles. The endocarp consisted of four layers: an outer layer of polyhedral cells with prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate, and three inner layers of sclereids in a palisade arrangement. The ovule was anatropous, unitegmic, and crassinucelate. In the chalazal region, a cup-like zone of tanniniferous parenchymal cells formed the hypostase. The developing seed had a circinotropous-like shape, that originated through curvature of the long, coarse funicle that surrounded the tegument and embryo sac. The ripe seed was endotestal with bar-like thickenings or pittings in the cell walls.



1965 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 1511-1521 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Tiagi

The ovary is bilocular, with four massive axile placentae, each bearing a sessile hemianatropous, unitegmic, and tenuinucellate ovule. The innermost integumentary layer forms endothelium around the micropylar part of the embryo sac. The micropylar canal is surrounded by the micropylar tube, whereas the endothelium is hypodermal in this region. The endothelium and an adjacent meristematic region contribute to the growth of the integument. The endosperm is of the Brunella type described by K. Schnarf in 1929. The chalazal haustorium is a highly aggressive, two-nucleate chamber which becomes inactive and is filled with a haustorial chalazal endosperm. The two multinucleate micropylar haustorial cells give rise to many tubular extensions which pass through the micropylar tube, but only one reaches the placenta. The cells of the storage endosperm are pitted and thickened with hemicellulose. An opaque tanniferous zone of endosperm separates the storage endosperm from the chalazal endosperm. The embryo is small and straight, with two cotyledons and a hypocotyledonary region. The seed coat is feeble, one to three layered. The pericarp is many layered and cuticularized. The two innermost lignified layers form columns at the dorsal line of the two valves of the capsule, where it dehisces. The chalazal part of the developing seed absorbs nourishment directly from the pericarp.



1969 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 215 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Prakash

In Darwinia the floral parts are differentiated in a "calyx-orolla-gynoeciumandroecium" sequence. In individual buds stages of microsporogenesis markedly precede corresponding stages of megasporogenesis. The anther is tetrasporangiate with all sporangia lying in one plane. The secretory tapetum is one- to three-layered within the same microsporangium and a large number of Ubisch bodies are formed. The anthers dehisce by minute lateral pores and an ingenious mechanism helps disperse the twocelled pollen grains. A basal placenta in the single loculus of the ovary bears four ovules in D. micropetala and two in D. fascicularis. In both species, however, only one ovule is functional after fertilization. The fully grown ovules are anatropous, crassinucellar, and bitegmic; the inner integument forms the micropyle. The parietal tissue is most massive at the completion of megasporogenesis but is progressively destroyed later. The embryo sac follows the Polygonum type of developnlent and when mature is five-nucleate, the three antipodals being ephemeral. Following fertilization, the primary endosperm nucleus divides before the zygote. Subsequent nuclear divisions in the endosperm mother cell are synchronous and lead to a free-nuclear endosperm which becomes secondarily cellular, starting from the micropylar end at the time the globular embryo assumes an elongated shape. Embryogeny is irregular and the mature embryo is straight with a massive radicle and a hypocotyl which terminates in two barely recognizable cotyledons. Sometimes the minute cotyledons are borne on a narrow neck-like extension of the hypocotyl. A suspensor is absent. Both integuments are represented in the seed coat and only the outer layer of the outer and the inner layer of the inner integuments, with their thick-walled tanniniferous cells, remain in the fully grown seed. The ovary wall is demarcated into an outer zone containing oil glands surrounded by cells containing a tannin-like substance and an inner zone of spongy parenchyma. In the fruit this spongy zone breaks down completely but the outer zone is retained. The two species of Darwinia, while closely resembling each other in their embryology, differ significantly from other Myrtaceae. However, no taxonomic conclusions are drawn at this stage, pending enquiry into the life history of other members of the tribe Chamaelaucieae.



1962 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
GL Davis

Cotula australis has a discoid heterogamous capitulum in which the outermost three whorls of florets are female and naked. The bisexual disk florets are fully fertile and have a four-lobed corolla with four shortly epipetalous stamens. The anthers contain only two microsporangia. Wall formation and microsporogenesis are described and the pollen grains are shed at the three-celled condition. The ovule is teguinucellate and the hypodermal archesporial cell develops directly as the megaspore mother cell. Megasporogenesis is normal and the monosporio embryo sac develops from the chalazal megaspore. Breakdown of the nucellar epidermis takes place when the embryo sac is binucleate and its subsequent development follows the Polygonum type. The synergids extend deeply into the micropyle and one persists until late in embryogeny as a haustorium. The development of the embryo is of the Asterad type, and the endosperm is cellular. C. coronopifolia agrees with C. australis in the presence of only two microsporangia in each anther and the development of a synergid haustorium.



Bothalia ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Strydom ◽  
J. J. Spies

Chloris virgata Sw., Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Harpochloa falx (L. f.) Kuntze, and Tragus berteronianus Schult. have a Polygonum type of embryo sac development. Unreduced embryo sacs were found in Eustachys paspaloides (Vahl) Lanza Mattei,  Harpochloa falx, and  Rendlia altera (Rendle) Chiov. Both facultative and obligate apomixis were observed. The Hieracium type of embryo sac development was observed in the aposporic specimens.



1964 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
PS Woodland

A comparative study was carried out between diploid and tetraploid races of Themeda australis from Armidale and Cobar, respectively. Some morphological variations occur in both populations, but sporogenesis and gametogenesis are identical. The anther is tetrasporangiate and the development of its four-layered wall is described. The tapetum is of the secretory type and its cells become binucleate at the initiation of meiosis in the adjacent microspore mother cells which undergo successive cytokinesis. Microspore tetrads are usually isobilateral and the pollen grains are three-celled at dehiscence, which takes place by lateral longitudinal slits. The ovule is of a modified anatropous form and bitegmic, the broad micropyle being formed of both integuments. The single hypodermal archesporial cell develops directly into the megaspore mother cell and the nucellar epidermis undergoes periclinal and anticlinal divisions to form a conspicuous epistase. The chalaza1 megaspore of the linear tetrad gives rise to a Polygonum-type embryo sac. Material from the Armidale population showed one embryo sac per ovule, but two to five embryo sacs were present in that from Cobar. Embryogeny is typically graminaceous and endosperm formation is at first free-nuclear, later becoming cellular. Polyembryony follows fertilization of several embryo sacs within the same ovule. The reasons for low fertility of T. australis and poor germination of seeds are discussed.



1970 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
IC Beltran

Ovule development, embryo sac formation, and embryogeny of I. Petraea are described. The ovules are anatropous, unitegmic, and tenuinucellar. Meiosis in the megaspore mother cell is regular and the chromosomes with terminalized chiasmata form ring bivalents at metaphase 1. The Polygonum type embryo sac, Scutellaria type endosperm development, and Solanad embryo formation correspond with development patterns in other members of the Lobeliaceae.



1957 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh P. Bell

Seed development was followed from fertilization to maturity. Pollen tubes required about 4 days to grow from stigma to ovule. In some plants, particularly bagged ones, nucellar cells remained alive and contents of the embryo sac degenerated. Many ovules did not develop. Seeds were counted and sorted in a random representative collection of 1075 berries. The average number of seeds per berry was 64.2. Of these 49.9 (or 77.7%) were imperfect. More complete pollination increased the percentage of normally developing ovules. Development of perfect seeds followed a familiar pattern. Unfamiliar features were noted as follows: 1. Degeneration of cells at both micropylar and chalazal ends resulted in a homogeneous plasma. This plasma formed strands across haustoria and almost completely surrounded the zygote. 2. Micropylar endosperm cells formed a dense plug. Developing embryos may have had difficulty in penetrating this plug. 3. Many embryos had died at some stage of development. 4. A conspicuous integumentary tapetum was present until the endosperm was about half its final size.Embryo development was the "soland" type. Mature seeds were "axile linear". Imperfect seeds were chiefly of two types: (a) medium sized and solid with middle integumentary layers lignified, or (b) small and collapsed with all tissues inside seed coat disintegrated. No imperfect seed had an embryo.



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