Hi folks, I posted the below message not so long ago and i was just wondering what's anyones experiences or thoughts on this?
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Every time an old Culbra flower falls from the plant, i can't resist picking it up and examining it. Some times the are 3 main styles but most flowers usualy have 2 main styles. These styles join at the ovary and form both sides of the Ovary walls. At their opposite end they join again to form an over-sized and elongated stigma.
This may all sound interesting but what intrigues me is the several minature style-like growths which protrude from in between the two main styles at the tip of the ovary. Sometimes they vary is size or sometimes they appear absent until the two main styles are torn apart at the ovary tip to reveal these same mini style-like growths, only they are contorted from their growth restriction.
These mini style-like growths originate and arise from the top of the ovary's central divideing cavity wall, that wall that seperates the two chambers in the seed pod.
What's more intrigueing, and what makes me refer to these growths as mini styles is that, sometimes, and for some strange reason, if one of these mini styles manages to reach a decent size, it develops a stigma-like growth at it's tip!
This makes me curious about what Schultzer wrote in his book "A New Plant Source of Narcotic Drugs". "Methysticodendron fruits, according to the natives, sporadically every few years but never annually." Which makes me ask so many questions:
In certain years, could Sibundoy have the ideal weather for Culebra's pollination? Do all the Culebra plants set fruit in the same year or each plant independantly when ready? Does climate have an effect on the growth of these mini-styles? Do these mini styles have a function and could this be the key to Culebras pollination?
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I've also noticed inside culebra pods that some of these growths almost look like seed embryos!
Does anyone know what these growths are?
All the best,
Bruno
PS: One of the presents my girlfriend, Lorraine, bought me for christmas was a microscope! Any ideas what i could use this for re. brugmansia?
Culebra: A closer look!
Bruno, the tech stuff goes way over my head. did want to congratulte you on pods though!
Lorraine is certainly something of a GF *lol* Congrats with the microscope. Bruno you can see pollen in there *lol* small billiard ball looking spheres sometimes with specific patterns of small spiny looking attachments. Its a wonderful world to look into. For example can you tell much about a Datura species from a grgain of pollen. That will go for Brugansia too. I imagine that every hybrid has its specific pollen signature to distinguish it from anyone else. Another thing could be to make micro morphology. Morphology is the science of describing a plants physical apperance in centimeters, color, shape and texture. As Datura Brugansia can have both glandular and non-glandular hairs of varying shape, lenght, density and purpose. If you practise much you will be able to tell much about the species and maybe also get an idea of the hybrid group that you see just from a leaf picked from far away. That is just two things. *lol* There are many more.
Thanks Arlene!
Hi Tonny, This morphology sounds interesting! I wonder if I can find a camera attachment for the microscope? :o)
Re. Culebra's mini styles,Here's is some info. i found today:
Methysticodendron Amesianum-R. E. Schultes in Bot. Mus Leafl. Harvard Univ. 17 (1955) 2.
"Appendix (rudimentary style?) like styles arising from central part of ovary, up to 5.5 cm long, accompanied by 1 or 2 subclavellate, fleshy appendices 2-5 mm long."
"stigma undivided, clavellate-tumescent; 2 or 3 appendages (1 filiform, rather similar to style but much shorter and 1 or 2 reduced to very short subulate outgrowths or bullae) arising from central part of ovary. Fruit not present."
"The structures most difficult of interpretation are the several appendages arising from the central tissue of the ovary. One of these is an elongated appendage usually entirely homologous with the styles (even to the presence of what appears to be stigmatic tissue), but much shorter. Accompanying this appendage are usually one or two anomalous knob-shaped, clavate or even subulate projections. These do not appear to arise consistently from any definite part of the ovary. They resemble adventitious stylo-like outgrowths."
Bruno