THE STRUCTURE OF VEGETATIVE AND GENERATIVE SHOOTS OF DRACAENA AETHIOPICA THUNB., BYNG & CHRISTENH. (ASPARAGACEAE JUSS.)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58407/bht.3.25.2Keywords:
Dracaena aethiopica, shoot system, elementary shoot, metamer, helicoid cymoidsAbstract
Purpose of the work. To investigate the structural features of the shoot system and the elementary shoot of Dracaena aethiopica Thunb., Byng & Christenh. (syn. Sansevieria aethiopica Thunb. (Asparagaceae Juss.).
Methodology. The study was based on plants from the greenhouse collection of the M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden, NAS of Ukraine. Vegetative and generative organs were examined by dissecting buds and shoots using a binocular magnifier MBS-1 and a stereomicroscope STEMI-2000 (Carl Zeiss, Germany) with a Canon PowerShot G5 camera. Leaf series were analysed for size, arrangement, number, and morphological traits. Bud structure and the number of leaf primordia were studied under the binocular magnifier. Data were processed in Excel with histograms built using built-in tools; graphical reconstructions were prepared in CorelDraw. For descriptions of morphostructure, generally accepted terminology.
Scientific novelty. The shoot system of D. aethiopica consists of renewal shoots with anisotropic growth: initially diageotropic (plagiotropic), then clinoapogeotropic (turning zone), and finally orthoapogeotropic (orthotropic vegetative and generative). Branching is mainly mesotonic, localized in the turning zone. Higher-order shoots arise from buds in shortened internodes of the second heterotropic part, usually 1–2 (rarely 3). The shoot life cycle lasts 4–5 years or longer, ending in the generative phase, indicating polycyclic shoots. The plagiotropic zone consists of metamers with cataphylls, dormant buds, and roots, occasionally producing higher – order shoots. The orthotropic zone forms transitional and assimilating leaves with dormant buds. The generative zone develops from the apical meristem of a vegetative shoot and consists of the main inflorescence axis and paracladia, forming a frondulose - bracteose, unbranched, open thyrse with helicoid cymes as partial inflorescences.
Conclusions. D. aethiopica has a vegetative-generative elementary shoot, where the apical meristem enters the floral stage and produces a thyrse with helicoid cymes. Three structural zones are distinguished − plagiotropic, heterotropic, and orthotropic − each showing variability in leaf shape, size, and internode length.
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