Timing of Floral Differentiation in Four Avocado (Persea Americana Mill.) Cultivars on the Main Island of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

We conducted a morphological investigation of flower bud differentiation in four cultivars of avocado (Persea americana Mill.): ‘Pinkerton’ (Guatemalan hybrid), ‘Simmons’ (West Indian), ‘Hass’ (predominantly Guatemalan × Mexican), and ‘Monroe’ (Guatemalan × West Indian). The avocado cultivars were planted on the main island of Okinawa Prefecture, which is the only subtropical area of Japan. Buds were collected on 15 November, and 1 and 19 December, 2011, and on 4 and 17 January 2012. The buds were sectioned longitudinally at a thickness of 15 μm through paraffin sectioning, double-stained with Safranin O and Fast green, and observed under an optical microscope to morphologically determine the flower bud differentiation stage. Flower bud differentiation occurred earliest in ‘Pinkerton’ in mid-December, followed by ‘Simmons’ in early January and ‘Hass’ in mid-January. Flower bud differentiation was not observed in ‘Monroe’ during the study period. How to Cite: Takaaki Maeda, Yoshimi Yonemoto, Md. Amzad Hossain, 2023. "Timing of Floral Differentiation in Four Avocado (Persea Americana Mill.) Cultivars on the Main Island of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan." Journal of Agriculture and Crops, vol. 9, pp. 408-412.