Reproductive development in two species of Darwinia Rudge (Myrtaceae)

Abstract

In Darwinia the floral parts are differentiated in a "calyx-orolla-gynoeciumandroecium" sequence. In individual buds stages of microsporogenesis markedly precede corresponding stages of megasporogenesis. The anther is tetrasporangiate with all sporangia lying in one plane. The secretory tapetum is one- to three-layered within the same microsporangium and a large number of Ubisch bodies are formed. The anthers dehisce by minute lateral pores and an ingenious mechanism helps disperse the twocelled pollen grains.

A basal placenta in the single loculus of the ovary bears four ovules in D. micropetala and two in D. fascicularis. In both species, however, only one ovule is functional after fertilization. The fully grown ovules are anatropous, crassinucellar, and bitegmic; the inner integument forms the micropyle. The parietal tissue is most massive at the completion of megasporogenesis but is progressively destroyed later. The embryo sac follows the Polygonum type of developnlent and when mature is five-nucleate, the three antipodals being ephemeral.

Following fertilization, the primary endosperm nucleus divides before the zygote. Subsequent nuclear divisions in the endosperm mother cell are synchronous and lead to a free-nuclear endosperm which becomes secondarily cellular, starting from the micropylar end at the time the globular embryo assumes an elongated shape.

Embryogeny is irregular and the mature embryo is straight with a massive radicle and a hypocotyl which terminates in two barely recognizable cotyledons. Sometimes the minute cotyledons are borne on a narrow neck-like extension of the hypocotyl. A suspensor is absent.

Both integuments are represented in the seed coat and only the outer layer of the outer and the inner layer of the inner integuments, with their thick-walled tanniniferous cells, remain in the fully grown seed. The ovary wall is demarcated into an outer zone containing oil glands surrounded by cells containing a tannin-like substance and an inner zone of spongy parenchyma. In the fruit this spongy zone breaks down completely but the outer zone is retained.

The two species of Darwinia, while closely resembling each other in their embryology, differ significantly from other Myrtaceae. However, no taxonomic conclusions are drawn at this stage, pending enquiry into the life history of other members of the tribe Chamaelaucieae.