-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
ContentSnapshots, Annals of Botany, Volume 112, Issue 8, November 2013, Pages i–ii, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mct281
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
Inflorescence structure and reproductive function (Review)
doi:10.1093/aob/mcs252
Most angiosperms present flowers in inflorescences, which play roles in reproduction beyond those served by individual flowers alone. Harder and Prusinkiewicz (pp. 1477–1493) consider the interplay between the development of inflorescences and their functions in creating opportunities for inflorescence diversification. Evidence reveals that inflorescences evolve largely from quantitative changes in topology, geometry and floral phenology. Such changes are probably facilitated by the separation of the support and maintenance functions by the inflorescence scaffold from the pollination functions of the floral canopy. Variation in the timing of flower opening, sexual function and longevity make inflorescences dynamic rather than static structures, creating an additional axis for their diversification.
...
Andromonoecy and developmental plasticity in Chaerophyllum
doi:10.1093/aob/mct073
Little is known about the forces triggering andromonoecy, the presence of hermaphrodite and male flowers in the same individual, in the Apiaceae. Reuther and Claßen-Bockhoff (pp. 1495–1503) investigate a natural population of protandrous Chaerophyllum bulbosum (Apioideae) through the use of bagging, hand-pollination and umbel removal to test whether the andromonoecious arrangement of flowers is induced by changes in resource allocation, or whether it is genetically fixed. They find that andromonoecy is inherited in C. bulbosum, but that the proportion of hermaphrodite and functionally male flowers responds plastically to the environment. An interplay of architectural constraints, flowering dynamics, pollinator availability and population size results in a self-regulating sexual system that saves resources and optimizes fruit set.
