Arrangement of vascular tissues in the peduncle of avocado (Persea americana Mill.)

Abstract

In all three investigated cultivars, the thin part of the peduncle which originates from the inflorescence axes contained a continuous cylinder of vascular tissue interrupted only occasionally by the gaps accompanying the traces of already abscised ramifications of the inflorescence. In the cvs. Principe Negro and Fuerte, the most distal, "thick" part of the peduncle (where the tepal traces separate) contained the vascular cylinder transformed into a group of concentric or semicircular bundles. These bundles joined anew at the point where the peduncle united with the fruit, forming once more a continuous cylinder of vascular tissues. Within the fruit, the vascular cylinder divided into numerous bundles penetrating the pulp. In cv. Hass the vascular cylinder was continuous in a11 parts of the peduncle, and was interrupted only occasionally by gaps.