Root Length and Vapour Pressure Deficit: Effect on Relative Water Content in Zea Mays L.

Abstract

The pair of lodicules situated at the base of the ovary and adjacent to the lemma of the wheat floret have long been known to be involved in the opening of the wheat floret at anthesis (see Arber 1965). At anthesis, the lodicules swell and force the lemma away from the palea, allowing the stamens to grow out from the floret. Some minutes later and presumably in response to a stimulus associated with pollination (male-sterile florets may remain open for many hours: Dr. A. T. Pugsley, personal communication) the lodicules collapse and the floret closes. We are studying the events which lead to this rapid swelling and degeneration of the lodicule in wheat and noticed that information about the nature of the vascular tissues in lodicules is very meagre.