Floral morphology of the Amaryllidaceae. I. Subfamily Amaryllidioideae

Abstract

The flowers of the subfamily Amaryllidioideae are similar to one another in that they are fragrant, showy, bisexual, and epigynous with two trimerous whorls of perianth and stamens each, and a compound gynoecium. A single vascular strand supplies the vascular system of both a perianth member and a stamen. It splits into three bundles, one median and two laterals. The former constitutes the vascular supply of a perianth member, while the latter, facing one another right and left, fuse to supply a stamen. This peculiar mode of branching of the vascular strand is considered to be associated with superposition of a stamen upon a perianth member. The corona of Narcissus which is supplied by inversely oriented vascular bundles, is regarded as an outgrowth from the perianth tube and those of Eucharis and Pancratium, which are non-vascular, to represent the stamen cup. Two series of vascular strands differentiate in all members investigated. While the inner series constitutes the placental supply, the strands of the outer series which vary in number in different genera, show various degrees of adnation among the traces occurring on the same radius. The nature of the inferior ovary has been discussed. The nectaries are considered to be of quite advanced type.