Inflorescence development

There is now strong evidence that iron is very important in floral development in Xanthium (Smith etal. 1957). When Fe was supplied iron deficient plants after six photoinductive cycles, normal staminate inflorescence development occurred but the pistillate inflorescences were abnormal and reduced in number. If Fe was not added to the — Fe plants following photoinduction, many of them died. It is not possible at this time to say if Fe is directly or indirectly involved. Most probably, however, the effects are indirect and reflective of the importance of Fe in cytochromes, ferredoxin, nitrate reductase, and sulfite reductase as well as several other enzymes that are essential in cellular function. 

Out of the same meristematic complex which is responsible for the vegetative growth an inflorescence develops which can be followed by others in serial arrangement. 

LIPID CHANGES IN MITOCHONDRIA OF ARUM ITALICUM SPADIX DURING THE INFLORESCENCE DEVELOPMENT... 

Table 1 - Lipid composition of Arum mitochondria at various stages of the inflorescence development. The results are given in Xg mg- protein. Percentages ai e given brackets.

Schultz EA, Haughn GW (1991) LEAFY, a homeotic gene that regulates inflorescence development in Arabidopsis. Plant CeU 3 771-781... 

LARKIN, J., Isolation of a cytochrome P450 homologue preferentially expressed in the developing inflorescences of Zea mays, Plant Mol. Biol., 1994, 25, 343-353. 

When the expression of CYP79B2 was driven by the 35S promoter, a 4-fold increase in indole glucosinolates was observed for approximately 20% of the transgenic lines, whose appearance also resembled that of wild-type plants.13 The majority (approximately 80%) of the 35S CYP79B2 lines exhibited dwarfism, did not develop inflorescences, and, therefore, did not produce seeds. A possible explanation for this phenotype could be that the LAOX produced by CYP79B2 was partly channeled into production of the plant hormone IAA, which would disturb the growth and development of the plants. 

Craker, L. E., and W. A. Feder. Development of the inflorescence in petunia, geranium, and poinsettia under ozone stress. HortScience 7 59-60, 1972. 

The corn kernel is a one-seeded fruit classified as a grain,22 borne on a female inflorescence commonly known as the ear. Each ear is comprised of a central stem, the cob, on which up to 1000 seeds develop. The seeds (kernels) mature about 60 days after pollination and are harvested in late summer or early fall (in the northern hemisphere) when kernel moisture content has dropped below 30% (wet weight basis). 

The racemose inflorescences, short-lived flowers, arise successively on short peduncles from the leaf axils or scales (Weiss, 2002). The small lily-like, greenish-yellow vanilla flowers, 3.6 x 5.2 cm long, develop in axillary racemes (Woebse, 1963). There may be 20-100 flowers on a single raceme. Each flower opens up in the morning and closes late in the afternoon, never to re-open... 

The pear sucker species overwinter both in and outside the orchard. On the first warm days in March they emerge from their hiding-places and mate. At the end of March they start to lay their oval, yellow eggs, first on the fruit spurs and later on the inflorescences and leaves. The first larvae appear before flowering and begin immediately to suck on leaves and blossoms. From the third larval stage onwards they start to secrete honeydew. Two or three generations develop. Particularly between the end of May and middle of June the pear sucker population can increase dramatically or else completely collapse because of natural factors (predators and/or weather). Newly hatched pear suckers are very sensitive to cool, damp weather. 

Each branch terminates in an inflorescence which is a dense capitulum of florets (individual tubular corollas), commonly called a flower. Each floret flower protrudes from a conical head surrounded by layers of bracts. The leaves, which develop along the stalk and branches, and the outer layers of bracts usually are spiny, although the types of safflower grown for the production of dye or food coloring are spineless, or nearly so. The seeds of the safflower plant develop within the head in a concentric pattern and are oblate with a flattened top, usually white, and about the size of a barley kernel (Figure 1) (20). 

This and other recies of lilacs develop large numbers of ike-like inflorescences in the early ringtime before the leaves have developed. These flowers are rich in nectar and fragrance and are pollinated by inseds. 

Maples are characterized by the shape of their leaves, which in most species are broadly palmate with a three- or five-lobed outline, and are arranged in an opposite fashion on their branches. Maples have seasonally deciduous foliage, which is shed in the autumn. The leaves of many species of maples develop beautiful yellow, orange, or red colors in the autumn, prior to shedding for the winter. Maple flowers appear early in the springtime, and consist of non-showy, rather inconspicuous inflorescences. The flowers of some species produce nectar and are insect-pollinated, while other species shed their pollen into the air and are wind-pollinated. Maples have distinctive, winged seeds known as samaras, which are arrar ed in opposite pairs. 

Inflorescence or Anthotaxy.—A typical flower consists of four whorls of leaves modified for the purpose of reproduction, and compactly placed on a stem. The terms Inflorescence and Anthotaxy are applied to the arrangement of the flowers and their position on the stem, both of which are governed by the same law which determines the arrangement of leaves. For this reason flower buds are always either terminal or axillary. In either case the bud may develop a solitary flower or a compound inflorescence consisting of several flowers. 

Indeterminate, ascending, or centripetal inflorescence is that form in which the flower buds are axillary, while the terminal bud continues to develop and increase the growth of the stem indefinitely. Example the Geranium. 

Resting structures are produced by some species. The ergot sclerotium produced by Claviceps species is the best-known example these dark structures develop in place of an ovary in a grass inflorescence (Stewart, 1957) they germinate to produce a sexual stroma, some first requiring a dormant period. 

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