Extrême précocité et conditions thermiques du développement apical et floral chez Claytonia caroliniana var. caroliniana

Abstract

The apical and floral development of Claytonia caroliniana var. caroliniana has been studied concurrently with soil temperature, in a sugar maple forest of the Stoneham mountain, Québec. Apical cellular activity begins early in May, while the flowering stems of the year are present. At the beginning of July, external apical development becomes visible. In the first days of August, 9 months before flowering, the foliar and floral structures of the next year are already present in the soil. Meiosis takes place at the beginning of October and first pollen mitosis follows shortly after, in the middle of the same month. From that time, well developed individuals, without chlorophyll, are present just under the litter. They can occasionally turn green and reach the upper surface of the litter in November or December, where they will spend wintertime under the snow, at a temperature oscillating between 0 and −4 °C. This behaviour is quite close to the survival strategy of hemicryptophytes. The active epigeous growth period begins in the middle of April, with the melting of snow. Second pollen mitosis and flowering take place at this time, rapidly followed by seed setting, dissemination, and destruction of the aerial portion of the plant. Cytoecological investigations to study possible influence of environmental factors on chromosomal anomalies in primordia should thus be conducted during the year preceding the flowering of Claytonia.