Physiological studies on the fertilization of Lythrum salicaria LINN. II.

Abstract

As well known, Lythrum salicaria is a tristylic plant, having long-styled, mid-styled, and short-styled plants. The materials under study, Lythrum salicaria LINN. var. roseum superbum Hort., were raised from commercial seeds. The styles of long-and mid-styled plants in these experiments were longer than those of materials in the previous works (Table 1). In these experiments the pistils were collected at intervals after legitimate and illegitimate unions, and killed in 94 percent alcohol. Next, the materials were immersed in lactic acid to soften, squashed, and stained with 0.5 percent lactic-blue. After being differentiated in lactic acid, mounts were made in a drop of glycerine. The results obtained may be summarized as follows:When the long-styled flowers were legitimately pollinated, the longest tubes penetrated the ovary within 11 hours after pollination. In the long-styled flowers illegitimately pollinated, the longest tubes elongated only a length of about 5mm within 48 hours after pollination. The tube length was less than half the distance from the stigma to the ovary. The longest tubes of mid-styled flowers after legitimate unions penetrated the ovary within 10 hours after pollination. When illegitimately pollinated, the longest tubes of mid-styled flowers grew a length of less than 2mm within 24 hours after pollination. In the short-styled flowers legitimately pollinated, the longest tubes reached the ovary about 3 hours after pollination. While the longest tubes of short-styled flowers illegitimately pollinated elongated only about 1mm within 9 hours after pollination. There was then the arrest of pollen tube growth (Table 2, and 3).These results are essentially in accord with those by SCHOCH-BODMER (1937, 1945) and by ESSER (1953) although differing somewhat in details.