flowering is the essential event in any crop and its physiology different among plants. so, i hope this presentation is helpful to every viewer in understanding of physiology of flowering in tropical and dry land fruit crops

1. L/O/G/O

2. Course No:- FSC-501
College of Horticulture,
JAU, Junagadh.
Presented By:
Rajatiya Jignasa H.

3. • Flower bud differentiation and floral initiation in mango denotes distinct changes
in phytohormones and mobilization of carbohydrates from source to sink.
• Which depend by climatic conditions, shoot age and size, besides genetic
characters.
• Very high and very low temperature during flowering is harmful to pollen and
tree fails to flower.
• Consistent decline in gibberellins with profound increase in cytokinins and
abscisic acid in combination with sufficient built-up of carbohydrates in the buds
approaching bud burst stage ensure floral inductions in mango.
• The floral bud differentiation is expected to starts from 5 to 7 months before the
actual flowering, for which 6-8 months old shoots with sufficient carbohydrate
reserves are important.
3

4. • Apart from the inherent character of the variety, the time of flowering
in different regions is mainly governed by the local climatic conditions.
4
India Nov-Feb
Philippines Dec-Jan
Indonesia June-Aug
Australia July-Aug
South Africa Aug-Sept
 In world:
South India Nov-Dec
West India Dec.-Jan.
Eastern India Jan-Feb
Northern India Feb-March
 In India:

5. 14

6. • The mango inflorescence is a branched terminal panicle, 4–24 inch long, bearing
what has been variously estimated to range from 200 to 10,000 individual flowers
per panicle.
• The number of panicles range from 200 to 3000 per tree depending on tree size and
extent of branching.
• The panicle bears both perfect or hermaphroditic, flowers having both pistil and
staminate structures and purely male or staminate flowers. Maximum number of
perfect flowers are located at tip of panicle.
• Individual mango flowers are small, ranging in size from 5 to 10 mm in diameter.
The perianth usually consists of 5 petals and sepals that are ovate ovoid to
lanceolate, thinly pubescent and variable in colour.
• The three to nine (usually five) cream-coloured petals typically change colour
before falling. Petals can be white, red, pink or even yellow depending on time since
anthesis.
6

7. • Greenish-yellow sepals can range in number from four to seven. Pedicels are
short.
• Perfect and staminate flowers bear one or rarely two stamens and four sterile
staminoids that are surrounded by a gland or nectar. The nectary is a fleshy disk
surrounding the ovary. Nectar production is continuous and in small amounts,
on an average of 0.045 µL/flower.
• Anthers are four-lobed and dehiscence occurs longitudinally to reveal pollen.
The ovary has one chamber that contains one ovule. The ovule is anatropous and
pendulous.
• The ovary is superior, sessile, free, gibbose, yellow coloured (depending on
cultivar), and laterally inserted style with a point like stigma.
7
Nactary gland

8. Male flower
Anther
Filament
Androceium
15

9. Hermaphrodite flower
Stigma
Style
Ovary
Anther
Filament
Gynoecium
Androecium
16

10. • Maximum anthesis has been reported to be between 06:00 and 8:00 AM.
Sometimes anthesis starts during the night and by morning they are completely
open. Anthesis generally occurs at night in polyembryonic cultivars; but in
monoembryonic cultivars anthesis occurs at night or early morning.
• Anther dehiscence begins as soon as the flower is open and continues throughout
the day but reaches its maximum between 11.00 and 12.00 AM. However, with
the increase in temperature, anthesis and anther dehiscence are hastened.
• Stigma receptivity of mango has been found to continue up to 72 h after anthesis
with optimum receptivity within 3 h from anthesis.
10
Fresh anther Dehiscenced anther

11. • Sex ratio (i.e. the proportion of perfect to staminate flowers) is a variable component
within panicles, trees and among cultivars. The sex ratio ranged between 0.29 to 13.33
in different cultivars.
• Sex ratio varies among cultivars, between same cultivars grown in different regions, in
relation to tree age and varies between inflorescences on the same tree. Environmental
and internal physiological factors have been claimed to influence sex ratio in mango.
• South Indian cultivar show significantly low perfect flowers when grown under NI
condition.
• Trees exposed to low temperature during inflorescence development have reduced the
number of hermaphrodite flowers and increased the male flowers.
• Continuous low temperature (diurnal maximum temperature <20˚C) induced flowering
with large number flowers followed by low pollen viability (<50%), low fruit set,
stenospermocarpic mango fruit and high fruit drop during early stage of fruit
development.
11

12. Banana
• When the banana plant formed an average 40 leaves (within 8 to 14 months),
the terminal vegetative bud converts into reproductive structure i.e.,
inflorescence which grows and elongates through the centre of the
pseudostem emerging at the top in the centre of the leaf cluster.
• Once it begins to elongate the inflorence may grow an average of 8 cm per
day finally emerging after about a month (Smmonds, 1959a).
• The inflorescence is a compound spike of female and male flowers arranged
in groups. Each group consists of 2 rows of flowers, one above the other.
• The bracts and their axillary groups of flowers are arranged spirally round
the axis and the bracts become closely overlapping each other forming a
tight conical inflorescence at the tip.
12

13. • The immature inflorescence is encased inside purple bracts that give the
apperence of a large bud; it is often referred to as the “bell”.
• Inside the bracts are 5-15 double whorls of floral parts comprising female flowers
at the proximal end, male flowers at the distal end and neuter or hermaphrodite
flowers sometimes present in between.
• Each node is covered by a purple bract. These bracts open in sequence (1 per day)
from base to tip.
• In M. schizocarpa, M. acuminata ssp. banksii and M. acuminata ssp. errans only
hermaphrodite flowers are produced.
• The female have three lobed stigma and ovary is inferior with three locules that
each contains an axile placenta. The ovules are in two or four rows in each locule.
• There are 5 stamens in male flowers; these are redused to staminodes in female
flowers. The female and male flowers opened by 6.30-8.00 a.m.
13

14. • In wild bananas, both male and female flowers produce abundant nectar and
pollen whereas in cultivated bananas, many clones lack pollen.
• The female flowers have ovaries that develop first by parthenocarpy (without
fertilization) to form pulp which is the edible part of the fruit.
• However, wild bananas exhibit cross pollination and ultimately fertilization to
form seeds instead of pulp (non-parthenocarpic).
• Day-neutral plants do not depend on photoperiod for floral induction
• Morphological and anatomical evidence suggests that the development of the
flower in banana is sensitive to low temperature when the ovary is differentiating,
when the perianth and stamens are forming and when the megasporangium is
differentiating.
14

15. 15
Male flower

16. 16
Female flower

17. The inflorescence emerges at the top of the
plant and soon starts pointing down.
The bract lifts, or curls up at the tip, exposing the female
flowers that will develop into fruit. The flowers are arranged
in clusters, the future hands.
Below the female flowers, some cultivars
possess hermaphrodite flowers, also called
neutral flowers.
The last type of flowers to appear are the male
flowers, which are also subtended by a bract.

18. 18

19. Custard apple
• The flowers of Annona species are hermaphrodite and are produced
singly or rarely in small clusters, mostly on current season’s growth
and occasionally on old wood.
• Cherimola and atemoya flowers are fragrant and are solitary or in
groups of two or three on short, hairy stalks. The flowers are multi-
staminate and multipistilate.
• New flowers continue to appear towards the apex of the shoot as
flowers produced earlier at the basal portions mature.
• Annona species generally require 27–35 days for flower-bud
development from initiation to anthesis.
19

20. 20
Stamen Pistil

21. • Differences in floral behaviour in the various areas may be attributed
to both genetic variability and climatic differences (Kshirsaga et al.,
1976).
• In custard apple flowering occur in three flushes: 1. March-April, 2.
April-May and 3. July-August; among these three flush third flush are
profuse and high yielding.
• Flowering intensity is dependent on tree vigour, tree age, lateral size
and variety.
• Some varieties such as Pink's Mammoth, exhibit strong apical
dominance, producing few flowers until 5-7 years of age. Other
varieties, such as African Pride, produce an abundance of flowers
within 2-3 years after planting.
21

22. Pollination and fruit set
• The flowers of Annona spp. exhibit a protogynous nature so, it is highly cross
pollinated. This poses a serious problem in obtaining high yields.
• The flowering seasons of A. squamosa and A. cherimola coincide. When sugar apple
pollen is shed at about 2 AM, cherimoya flowers are receptive, opening around 7–9
AM and, when cherimoya pollen is shed at 3–6 PM, sugar apple flowers are
receptive.
• This flower synchrony, together with complementary functional sexes, favours
cross-pollination, leading to natural hybridization.
• The atemoya female parts are receptive between 4 PM and 8 AM and appear moist
and sticky (Thakur and Singh, 1964).
• Atemoya pollen is discharged in the afternoon of the same day from 3 to 6 PM, if the
RH is above 80% and the temperature >22°C. At lower temperatures, pollen is
released on the afternoon of the second day.
22

23. • Poor pollination is a frequent problem with all three species and occurs under
high temperature (30°C) and low humidity (30% RH).
• Lower temperature (25°C) and high humidity (80% RH) greatly improves
pollination.
• Sugar apple exposed to >30°C and relative humidity <60% leads to poor
pollination, even if hand-pollinated.
• At 25°C and a relative humidity >80% sugar apple pollination is greatly
improved, with too high RH and rain negatively affecting anther dehiscence.
• High temperatures will induce strong vegetative growth in atemoya and
cherimoya. A temperature of 22–28°C is ideal for fruit set in atemoya, while
cherimoya needs slightly lower temperatures for fruit set.
• Pollen grains from flowers that appear early in a flowering season have thick
walls, are high in starch, germinate poorly and give poor fruit set.
23

24. • Pollen of later flowers shows a high proportion of individual pollen grains
without starch grains, which germinate well.
• Upon opening, flowers are receptive for about 24 h. It has also been shown that
spraying the flowers with water or putting a drop into the flower can
significantly increase fruit set, probably because of the increased humidity
slowing the drying of the stigma and pollen grains.
• Night-time irrigation with micro-sprinklers or late afternoon rains also
increases fruit set.
• Nitidulid beetles (Carpophilus and Uroporus spp.) are the important pollinators
of Annona flowers, with wind and self-pollination being low (1.5%).
• Hand-pollination is recommended for cherimoya and atemoya to achieve more
uniform fruit shape.
24

25. 25
Flowers of different Annona species
Custard apple Ramphal Laxmanphal
Cherimola Sour sop Pond apple

26. Stages of flower emergence of sugar-apple as described by the BBCH
scale in Brazil (Debora, et al., 2017).
26
50: Floral buds closed and covered by whitish-
green scales (CFB).
51: Beginning of floral bud swelling.
53: Bud burst (first floral tips visible).
54: Sepals visible and petals begin to elongate.
55: Petal elongation.
57: Flowers closed, petals elongating.
59: Flowers closed with fully elongated petals
forming a long corolla (FCPL).

27. 27
Stages of flowering and fruit set of sugar-apple as described by the
BBCH scale in Brazil (Debora, et al., 2017).
60: First flowers open: pre-female stage (BPO).
61: Beginning of flowering: female stage and
pollination.
65: Full flowering, 50% of flowers open: male
stage.
67: Flowers fading, majority of petals fallen or
dry.
69: End of flowering, fructification visible and
all petals fallen or dry (EF).
71: Beginning of ovary growth; ovaries green,
sometimes with dry petals (FOG).

28. 28
• In avocado shoot growth is generally monopodial
and axillary shoots can be proleptic or sylleptic with
the relative proportions of the two being cultivar
dependent.
• Bud scales form around the apical meristem during
the period of rest; these bud scales and bud scale
scars are visible at the base of proleptic shoots for
several months after shoot extension.
• There are no bud scales at the base of sylleptic
shoots as there has been no period of rest.
Avocado

29. 29
• Floral shoots may contain one or more floral buds
derived from terminal and/or subtermial buds on the
parent shoot (Thorp et al., 1994).
• Floral buds are generally mixed buds with both
reproductive and vegetative primordia.
• Each floral bud develops into a compound inflorescence
that can be determinate or indeterminate.
A: Indeterminate
B: determinate
conti...
• Each compound inflorescence contains approximately 80 flowers. Each panicle
will produce only one to three fruit.
• The avocado flower is bisexual having both functional male and female organs
although the functions are separated in time by synchronous protogynous
dichogamy (Davenport, 1986).

30. 30
• Each flower opens twice, the first functionally as a female flower which closes
then re-opens the following day in the male stage.
• Heterodichogamy is present in this species such that the different avocado
cultivars are classified in two groups (A or B) according to their flowering
behavior (Nirody, 1922).
• In type A cultivars, flowers usually open in the morning in the female stage,
close at midday and reopen in the afternoon of the following day in the male
stage.
• In type B cultivars, the flowers open in the afternoon in the female stage, close
in the evening and reopen the following morning in the male stage (Stout, 1923).
• About 5% of flowers are defective in form and sterile. Production is best with
cross-pollination between types A and B.

31. 31
• In South India, avocado trees bloom in November-
December months and fruits ripen by July or August.
• Most of the flowers opened in the morning time
between 8 to 10.00 AM but some of the flowers opened
in the afternoon between 2.0 to 5.0 PM .
• The pollination is mainly performed by insects .
• Apis cerena as major pollinator with 17.56% followed
by Apis florea with 11.3%.
Female flower stage
Male flower stage

32. 32
510: Reproductive buds dormant
511: Beginning of reproductive bud swell
512: End of reproductive bud swell
513: Reproductive bud break
515: Inflorescences 50% of final length
517: Inflorescences 70% of final length
518: End of inflorescence extension
610: First flowers open
617: 90% or more of flowers opened
711: Initial ovary growth
Principle reproductive growth stages

33. • Papaya is a polygamous plant and flowers are borne on inflorescences which
appear in the axils of leaves ususally after 3-4 month of trasplanting.
• Papaya have a highly complex capability in sexual expression. Some plants bear
only short-stalked pistillate (female) flowers, or hermaphrodite (perfect) flowers
(having female and male organs), borne on short stalks, while other may bear only
staminate (male) flowers, clustered on long panicles.
• There are also monoecious plants having both male and female flowers.
• There is range of possible variation and the proportion and type of flowers
produced may vary even on the same tree (Villegas, 1997).
• Hermaphrodite flowers are of two main types- elongata and pentandria with an
intermediate type between these two.
PAPAYA

34. • The anther dehiscence in staminate and hermaphrodite flowers takes place between
10 to 12 hours before anthesis.
• High temperature and low humidity hastens the time of anther dehiscence.
• Stigma become receptive one day prior to anthesis and it remains receptive two days
after flower anthesis.
• The best hour of the crossing is between 8-10 hours in the forenoon during sunny
days.
• The time from pollination to first ovule penetration was 25 h at 28 °C (Cohen et al.,
1989 ).
• Papaya flowers are pollinated by natural agents. They may be wind-pollinated, since
the pollen is light and abundant. A few insects, including thrips and moths, can assist
in pollinating the sweet-smelling flowers.
• Low night temperatures combined with high moisture and high nitrogen levels lead
to carpellodic fruit develop.
34

35. 35
Characteristic of major flower types in papaya

36. Physiology of flowering
• Pistillate trees tend to be stable while staminate and hermaphrodite
trees may be ‘ambivalent’, going through seasonal sex reversals
(Storey, 1976).
• Shift from female fertility to sterility in hermaphrodite flower is higher in
cooler nights or short days.
• Long days and high temperature increased the production of female flowers.
• Also increase in female sterility during the winter months and restoration of
fertility on the same plant also obseved under some studies.
• Treatment with TIBA, GA3 and SADH increased the female flowers.
36

37. 37
female flower
male flower
perfect flower

38. 38
A: male flower
B: perfect flower
C: female flower
D: Long male inflorescence
with dozens of staminate
fl owers
E: Andromonoecious cyme
F: Female cyme

39. 39
Types of papaya plants according to sex forms.
( a ) Female ( b ) Hermaphroditic ( c ) Male ( d ) Male fruit-bearing plant

40. 40
( a ) Normal elongata flower with five
carpels.
( b , c ) Reduced ovary due to loss of
carpels as a result of partial female
sterility.
( d ) Completely female sterile flower.
• Gradual reduction in pistil size due to female sterility of flowers and
approximate phenotype of the corresponding fruit.
Female sterility and carpellody of papaya.

41. 41
( e ) Normal elongata flower.
( f – g ) Fusion to the ovary and partial transformation to carpels and of one ( f )
and two ( g ) stamens, leading to misshapen fruits.
( h ) Complete transformation of the five antepetalous whorl of stamens into
carpels, leading to the “pentadria” type of flower, with a rounded ovary
(and fruit) and almost free petals
Increasing levels of carpellody
and approximate phenotype of
corresponding fruit.

42. 42
( a ) Fruit of a hermaphroditic plant.
( b ) Fruit from a female plant.
( c ) Misshapen fruit from a hermaphro.
plant due to carpellody
Papaya fruits according to sex type.

43. Citrus
• Citrus species show a relatively long juvenility period (two to five years) before
the trees reach the mature stage to produce flowers.
• They usually produce a large number of flowers over the year. The floral load
depends on the cultivar, tree age and environmental conditions (Monselise,
1986).
• The intensity of flowering increasing with the duration of the cold treatment.
• In subtropical regions, citrus major bloom occurs during the spring flush
along with the vegetative sprouting.
• In tropical climates, however, bud sprouting and flowering come about
without interruption throughout the year although the main bloom still occurs
during the spring (Goldschmidt, 1996).
43

44. • In Gujarat, about 60 % of the total crop is harvested during July to September,
30 % from October to January and 10 % from Feb. to May.
• High temperatures accelerate anthesis and shorten the bloom period while low
temperatures lead to an extended flowering period (Davenport, 1990).
• Temperature also affects the activity of bees, the main citrus pollinators, and the
growth rate of pollen tubes.
• Flowers are produced on current season growth in cymes, both axillary and
terminal position.
• Two types of flowers, perfect and imperfect are found. The flowers are white in
colour in most of the species except lemon and citron where they are purplish on
the outside.
• Flower opening, starts from morning and extends up to evening but maximum
anthesis is between 11.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon.
44

45. • The viability of pollen grains varies from
45-80% depending upon the season.
• The dehiscence of anthers takes place
there 45 minutes before anthesis or within
45 minutes after anthesis. It varies up to 5
hours after anthesis.
• The receptivity of stigma starts either 15
minutes to 2 hours before anthesis or
within 35 minutes to 5 horus after
anthesis depending upon weather.
• The receptivity lasts for 4-8 days after
anthesis.
45

46. 46
Flowers of different citrus species
Mandarin Sweet orange Lime
Lemon Pummelo Grapefruit

47. Sapota
• Like vegetative growth, reproductive bud development in sapota occurs in
different flushes with temporal variation in its intensity.
• However February–March and July–October are major flowering periods.
• It is evident that prevalence of mild temperature (26–28˚C) and high soil
moisture (July–October) favours reproductive events in sapota, which is
substantiated by high flowering intensity and fruit set.
• Flower buds emerge terminally either on current season shoots or on last season
shoots.
• Flowers borne in group of 6–12 in the leaf axils near the terminal part of
branches.
• Sapota flowers are solitary, small, campanulate, bisexual, pedunlous on short
pedicels (1-2 cm), greenish white with six sepals arranged in two whorls and a
gamopetalous six-lobed corolla. 47

48. • The outer sepals are brownish in colour.
Corolla is consist of 6 pale white petals,
which form a bell shaped tube.
• The androecium is adnate to the corolla
which consists of an inner whorl of 12
fertile stamens.
• Sapota has solitary pistil with a stigma,
style and a superior ovary with 4 or 5
locules each with a single axile ovule.
• Flowers are characterized by restricted
opening of petals, presence of small
aperture (<2.5 mm), floral chamber at
the base approach herkogamy.
48
Stamen
Pistil
Herkogamy

49. Sex arrangement Herkogamy
Flower aperture (diameter) : 2.3±0.1 mm
Period of Anthesis : 5-6 AM
Period of Anther dehiscence : 7-9 AM
Pollen/flower : 9723±157
Ovule/flower : 9±1.2
Duration of peak stigma receptivity : 7-10 AM on the
day of anthesis
Nectar content : Imperceptible
Fruit set in autogamous flower : Nil
Fruit set in open pollinated flower : 14.5
Fruit set in self-compatible flower (hand
pollination)
: 27.5
49
Floral traits and pollination behaviour of sapota

50. 50
Time elapsed in each stage (horizontal bars), monthly mean temp. (2014-16).
Sequential progression of principal growth stages of
sapota in eastern tropical region of India.

51. 51
Stages of reproductive development
511 Beginning of reproductive buds swell
512 End of reproductive bud swell
513 Bud burst
515 Petals visible, sepals separating
517 Petals elongating
519 End of flower bud extension

52. 52
Stage of flowering and fruit set
610: First flowers open
611: 10% flowers open
612: 20% flowers open
613: 30% flowers open
615: Pollination completed.
First petals fading
617: Flower fading
619: End of flowering
710: Fruit set. Ovary begins
to swell
711: Ovary growing

53. • Sapota was observed to be highly self compatible, as
the fruit set percentage was substantially high (>25
%) when flowers were pollinated with the pollens of
same plants.
• Presence of floral chamber in sapota could be an
important adaptive character to facilitate
pollination.
• Thrips are the major pollinator of sapota flower
whereas Silvanopsis beetle acted as co-pollinator.
• The high rate of pollination and pollinator visit was
recorded in the month of September may be due to
prevalence of favourable temperature (Tmax.-31.6˚C)
and relative humidity (75-80 %).
53

54. Aonla
• Flower bud differentiation takes place in the first week of March and flowering
period lasts for about 3 to 4 weeks. But in South India flowering takes place twice
i.e Feb.- March and June-July (Naik,1963).
• In cultivar Chakaiya and NA-7 it was observed in the month of april.
• Branchlets may either be floriferous or vegetative.
• The floriferous branchlets bear staminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers on
the axil of small and sub-sessile leaves.
• Inflorescence (racemose) is characterized by inconspicuous unisexual flowers with
short pedicel.
• Time required for flower bud development to reach anthesis was recorded 15-16
days in Chakaiya and 14-15 days in NA-7.
54

55. • Male flowers are yellowish green or deep pink in colour, whereas female flowers
are light green.
• Both types of flowers are spatially separated along the axis of branchlets.
• Male flowers appear in cluster at the basal part of branchlet, whereas female
flowers are borne at the distal end.
• The ratio of male and female flowers varies with genotypes and climatic conditions
(Wali et al., 2015).
• Aonla is a heterogamous monoecious plant wherein male and female flowers are
borne separately on the same branchlet.
• Inflorescence is racemose which are borne axillary on the nodes.
• Aonla is protandrous in nature as male matures earlier than female.
55

56. • Male buds appear in group (2-6) throughout the axil of branchlet, whereas female
buds appear singly (rarely two) with the male buds on the distal end of the
branchlet.
• Male flower has 6-8 tepals and a synandrous androecium wherein 6 stamens are
fused along with their filaments and anthers.
• The sequential progression of male phase of aonla is characterized by acropetal
maturation which completes within two weeks.
• Female flowers are characterized by short pedicel, 6–8 tepals and a superior ovary
with short style and three bifid stigmas.
• They appear singly along the leaf axil on the distal end of branchlet, however their
intensity of occurrence vary with genotypes.
• The developmental stages of female flowers are completed in about 2-3 weeks.
56

57. • Anthesis takes place in evening time which
varies from 5.50 to 7.45 P.M. according to
cultivars.
• Sex ratio varies from 1:12 to 1:89.
Maximum in Kanchan (1:12) and minimum
in Chakaiya (1:89) (Shukla,et al., 2008).
• Anther dehiscence takes place soon or
about 10 to 15 min after anthesis. Female
flowers open in stages and it takes about 72
hour to open completely.
• The stigma becomes receptive on the 3rd
day of an thesis and remains receptive for
another 48hours (Pathak and Pathak,
1993).
57
Female flower
Male flower

58. 58
511 Bud swelling
513 Beginning of bud development
515 Extension of reproductive buds
517 Development of reproductive parts
519 End of bud extension
Stages of inflorescence development

59. 59
Stages of male flower
610 A First staminate flower open
611 A 20% flower open
613 A 30% flower open
615 A 50% flower open
617 A Flower fading
619 A End of flowering
Stages of female flower
610 B First pistilate flower open
611 B 20% flower open
613 B 30% flower open
615 B Pollination completed
617 B Stigma fading started
619 B Fruit set
Stages of flowering

60. Ber
• In India, the flowering period of ber varies from early June to late November in
different varieties under different agroclimatic conditions.
• In cultivar Gola flowering started from 20th August and full bloom was observed
from 15th September to 15th October under Jobner (Rajasthan) condition
(Garhwal, 1997).
• In Australia, flowering begins with the onset of the wet season (January-February)
after initiation of growth during the spring (October).
• The total duration of flowering varied from 68 to 94 days (Babu and Kumar, 1998)
and 57 to 75 days (Dhaliwal and Bal, 1998) depending upon cultivar.
• Total flowering duration of cultivar Gola was recorded as 71 ± 5.62 days and
cultivar Seb was 68 ± 4.49 days (Garhwal, 1997).
• Flowers are borne in axil of leaves of mature as well as current seasons shoots
(Garhwal, 1997).
60

61. • The number of flowers per cluster has been reported to be 10 to 14 (Garhwal, 1997)
and 16 to 28 (Josan et al., 1980) in different cultivars under different agro-climatic
conditions.
• Initiation to opening of floral buds takes 12 to 30 days.
• Anthesis in ber is cultivar dependent. In some of the cultivars, it takes place in
forenoon, while in others occurs in the afternoon.
• Pareek (1983) reported that the anthesis occured between 7.30 to 8.30 AM in
cultivars Seb, Jogiya, Ponda, Aliganj and Illaichi, while in cultivars Gola and
Mundia it was between 12.00 noon to 1.00 PM.
• In most of the cultivars, the dehiscence of anthers started just after anthesis and is
completed within 4 to 5 hours.
61

62. • Peak receptivity of the stigma appeared to be just as the flower opened and stigma
remains receptive upto 13 h to 24 h.
• The pollen viability ranging between 87.29 per cent to 90.63 per cent in different
cultivars.
• Ber cultivars have a gametophyte self in compatibility is highly cross pollinated.
62
Fresh stamen Dry stamen
Stigma

63. Guava
• The guava flower are hermaphrodite and it has a superior calyx with 5 lobes and the
corolla of 6-10 petals arranged in one and two whorls.
• The androecium consists of 160 to 400 thin filaments carrying bilobed anthers
closely packed together.
• The gynoecium consists of an inferior ovary, syncarpous with axile placentation and
subulate terminal style.
• The style is smooth and red at the summit. It is larger than filaments but bent over
stamens in bud stage.
• Three flowering seasons were reported in the peninsular regions of India, namely,
ambe bahar, mrig bahar and hatti or hasta bahar.
• In north Indian subtropics, there are only two flowering seasons, however, have
reported three distinct flowering and fruiting periods in spring, rainy and winter
seasons in Delhi.
63

64. • The peak anthesis was found to be between 5.00 and 6.30 AM in most of the varieties.
However, in Chittidar and Lucknow Round, it was observed between 6.30 and 7.00
AM.
• The dehiscence of anthers starts 15 to 30 minutes after anthesis in all the varieties
and continues up to 2 hours.
• After dehiscence, the anthers assume a whitish colour caused by the pollen.
• No fixed relation has been observed between the atmospheric temperature and
humidity and the time of anthesis and dehiscence.
• Pollen fertility has been found to be high in all the cultivars of guava and honey bee is
the principle pollinator.
64

65. Pineapple
• The pineapple flower is an inflorenscence that usually developed from the
apical meristem in acropetal succession and last for up to 15 days.
• The inflorenscence consists of 50 to 200 individual flowers borne spirally and
capped by a crown made of approximately 150 short leaves on a short stem.
• Flower contain both the male and female reproductive organs. Individual
flowers are a typical of monocots, trimerous with 3 sepals and petals, 6
stamens in 2 whrols and 1 pistil.
• The flower petal are white at their base, to violet blue at their tip and tougue
shaped
65

66. 66
Pineapple flower

67. Different stages of pineapple flowering

68. Jackfruit
• Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (Jackfruit) is a monoecious species with separate
female and male inflorescences. Female inflorescence consists of 5,695±52 female
flowers.
• Fruit of the species is a compound fruit technically called as syncarp which consist
individual fruitlets.
• Female inflorescence arise from the trunk and older thick branches ,either singly or
in pairs distance away from the male spikes.
• Male spikes appear on the terminal ends of the branchlets.
• The ratio of male to female inflorescence varies from 96.4%.
• The stamens has 4 anthers and emits a sweet scent .This splits to expose a mass of
sticky ,spherical, yellow ,pollen grain.
68

69. • Stigma of individual flower is receptive to pollen for a period of 5 days whereas
female inflorescence remain receptive for a period of 15 days.
• Flowering shows complete synchrony of the female flowering phase with the male
phase for a given individual and high synchrony among individuals, too.
• It is a wind pollinated species. It is a highly outcrossing species with self-
compatiblilty and facultative agamospermy.
• The peak anthesis takes place between 1 pm and 3 pm and peak anther dehiscence
occurs between 3 pm and 4 pm.
• Lack of pollination may lead to the dropping of female spikes.
69

70. 70
“THE WISE LIVE WITHOUT INJURING NATURE AS THE BEE DRINKS HONEY
WITHOUT HARMING THE FLOWERS”
EAT HEALTHY DREAM HEALTHY LIVE HEALTHY
Thank you...