Flowering in a bamboo, Melocanna baccifera (Bambusoideae: Poaceae)

Abstract

Melocanna baccifera (Roxburgh) Kurtz ex Skeels, a species of bamboo introduced to Sri Lanka from India, flowered and set fruit during 2001–2002. Culms that flowered and set fruit died. The incidence of flowering is significant in that flowering took place close to the predicted mast flowering in 2007. At the onset of flowering, inflorescences were predominantly staminate. But later in 2002, bisexual and pistilate flowers also developed leading to fruiting. Both protandry and protogyny were observed in the bisexual florets. Floral characters indicated that the species was mainly out‐crossing. Although anther dehiscence released pollen and stigmas were exerted, pollination of stigmas was inefficient. The few stigmas that were naturally pollinated showed limited pollen tube growth. However, fruit set took place. Fruits were very rarely seen to germinate naturally. Many fruits were devoid of an embryo, indicating that parthenocarpy and/or apomixis may have taken place. Excised embryos germinated in vitro. © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2003, 143, 287–291.

Fruit and Seed

“…The structure of the scutellum is normal, with the apical cells elongated and apparently functioning as transfer cells moving nutrients from the endosperm; Rudall and Dransfield (1989) speculate that nutrients are transferred from the pericarp to the embryo via the endosperm. The latter is liquid in the baccate fruits of the bamboo Melocanna (Ramanayake and Weerawardene 2003). Vivipary is also reported in Dinochloa; Dransfield (1981) suggests that this character is correlated with the presence of the fleshy fruit.…”

Flowering and fruiting of Aulonemia aristulata: a gynomonoecious woody bamboo species from Atlantic Forest in Brazil

“…Protandry in bamboo seems to be uncommon (Ramanayake & Weerawardene 2003). The majority of the species in this group of plants are classified into two categories: gynoecium and androecium mature at the same time; and the gynoecium matures before the androecium, i.e., protogyny (John et al 1994, Koshy et al 2001.…”

“…Protandrous florets (the androecium matures earlier than the gynoecium) are rare in bamboos (Ramanayake & Weerawardene 2003). The presence of seed set in enclosed synflorescences and embryo development in a few fruits indicates that apomixis is also possible in bamboo species (Nadgauda et al 1993, Ramanayake & Weerawardene 2003.…”

V. Subfamily Bambusoideae Luerss. (1893)

“…An additional complication is the lack of flowering material. The bamboos are well known for cyclical flowering, with many species flowering at intervals of tens to over one hundred years (Janzen 1976;McClure 1966;Ramanayake and Weerawardene 2003), although sporadic (offcycle) flowering is also known. This means that many collections are sterile, and taxonomists have had to develop ways to identify species without access to the often-diagnostic inflorescences and flowers.…”