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AOBPreview published online on October 2, 2002
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcf225
© 2002 by Annals of Botany Company
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Submitted on March 25, 2002
Revised on May 21, 2002
Accepted on July 15, 2002

Study of Homeosis in the Flower of Philodendron (Araceae): a Qualitative and Quantitative Approach

DENIS BARABÉ1*, CHRISTIAN LACROIX2, and BERNARD JEUNE3

Affiliation of the authors: 1 Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Jardin botanique de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, Canada H1X 2B2; 2 Department of Biology, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada C1A 4P3; 3 Laboratoire de Cytologie Expérimentale et Morphogenèse végétale, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Bât. N2, 4 place Jussieu, 75 252 Paris Cedex 05, France

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: denis.barabe{at}umontreal.ca.

This study deals specifically with floral organogenesis and the development of the inflorescence of Philodendron squamiferum and P. pedatum. Pistillate flowers are initiated on the lower portion of the inflorescence and staminate flowers are initiated on the distal portion. An intermediate zone consisting of sterile male flowers and atypical bisexual flowers with fused or free carpels and staminodes is also present. This zone is located between the sterile male and female floral zones. In general, the portion of bisexual flowers facing the male zone forms staminodes, and the portion facing the female zone develops an incomplete gynoecium with few carpels. The incomplete separation of some staminodes from the gynoecial portion of the whorl shows that they belong to the same whorl as the carpels. There are two levels of aberrant floral structures in Philodendron. The first one is represented by the presence of atypical bisexual flowers, which are intermediates between typical female flowers and typical sterile male flowers. The second one is the presence of intermediate structures between typical carpels and typical staminodes on a single atypical bisexual flower. The atypical bisexual flowers of P. squamiferum and P. pedatum are believed to be a case of homeosis where carpels have been replaced by sterile stamens on the same whorl. A quantitative analysis indicates that in both species, on average, one staminode replaces one carpel.
Key words: Inflorescence, development, positional information, sex determination.


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