Anatomy of Shuck Abscission in `Desirable' Pecan
Cellular changes associated with shuck dehiscence and markings deposited on pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) C. Koch] shells were examined by scanning electron and light microscopy. Fruit were sampled at three stages of maturity: 1) shuck and shell fused, 2) sutures separated (shuck opening), and 3) vascular system separated from shuck. Shuck dehiscence involved temporally regulated abscission events with shuck-shell, then shuck-suture, and finally shuck-vascular system separation. Abscission events occurred in a tissue zone common to and continuous among all three separation sites, even though segregated in time. Also, similar cell types and cellular changes were common to the three events. Thus, temporal segregation of abscission events was not due to differences in either tissue type or cellular modifications, but to maturation rate. Structures to become shell markings were single globules filling cells of the shuck inner tissue zone before shuck-shell separation. These globules were deposited on the shell at shuck-shell separation and were morphologically similar to deposits stuck to the dorsal shuck surface. Globules were partitioned differentially between the shuck and shell during shuck-shell separation. Thus, the inner zone of the shuck is an important tissue in pecan nut maturation; it functions as the site for dehiscence and provides markers for cultivar identification.