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View Full Version : Need help with flower parts idenification.


Randy4ut
09-10-2008, 10:17 AM
OK,
This may sound stupid to some of you, but I gotta ask for help, here. For those of you who see this all the time should be able to help me out. I have a Musa siamensis 'Thai Gold' that is blooming and I have been cross pollinating it with Musa velutina pollen. The first 4 sets of blooms all looked alike and I was able to pollinate them. Today, I have a couple of new sets of blooms that look different to me and I wondered if they were the male flowers already coming out. Please take a look at the pictures below, and let me know what you think. The first two pics are the ones that I pollinated with the velutina and you can see where I pollinated them. The last three pics are the ones I took today and looked differently. Please help me out here!!! Thanks in advance!!!

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n225/randy4ut/100_2893.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n225/randy4ut/100_2895.jpg

Okay, here are the new blooms opening today...

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n225/randy4ut/100_2898.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n225/randy4ut/100_2900.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n225/randy4ut/100_2899.jpg

Someone, please tell me I am not crazy and there is a difference!!!

Bananaman88
09-10-2008, 11:29 AM
They definitely look different to me.

Randy4ut
09-10-2008, 12:04 PM
They definitely look different to me.

Thanks, Brent... I am glad to hear I ain't going crazy with this. But at the same time, are the blooms in the last three pics male flowers? Gotta guess?

Gabe15
09-10-2008, 12:39 PM
Yes, those are the male flowers. There is a non-functional vestigial stigma in the male flower, so this can lead to confusion sometimes in the flower ID, but you can clearly see the anthers present that were not there before in the female flowers (though they are present in those species whose basal flowers are bisexual, such as M. velutina). Also, the ovaries are much smaller and will never develop into fruit.

Randy4ut
09-10-2008, 01:02 PM
Yes, those are the male flowers. There is a non-functional vestigial stigma in the male flower, so this can lead to confusion sometimes in the flower ID, but you can clearly see the anthers present that were not there before in the female flowers (though they are present in those species whose basal flowers are bisexual, such as M. velutina). Also, the ovaries are much smaller and will never develop into fruit.

Hey Gabe,
I appreciate you chiming in to this one. I figured with the time difference you would probably see this later in the day and I was right. I appreciate your input and again, I am glad I am not seeing things and seeing it for what it was...

scottdurand
06-13-2009, 02:54 PM
I have been looking for a good thread on pollination tips and was curious if there is already a thread on the subject that might have some illustrations?