TRANSLOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ASSIMILATES IN FLOWERING FRITILLARIA IMPERIALIS

¹⁴CO₂ was supplied to single leaves at various heights along the axis of flowering F. imperialis plants, under conditions of photosynthesis.
During the following days the ¹⁴C-assimilates, in all cases, moved into the inflorescence as well as into the developing bulb, although top leaves exported mainly to the former plant part and bottom leaves predominantly to the latter one.

In all experiments the ¹⁴C-photosynthates translocated to the inflorescence mainly moved into the flower that was situated above the treated leaf, although the distance between flower and leaf could be as large as 90 cm.
As the phyllotaxis of the shoot exhibits a 2/5 configuration five orthostichies can be distinguished morphologically.
Apparently also five groups of vascular bundles exist, each connecting a particular row of leaves with a 1/5 sector of the cross section of the flowerbearing shoot part.

In the bulb the phyllotactic arrangement is ½; nevertheless the 1/5 sector of the cross section of the bulb below the treated leaf received the ¹⁴C-assimilates of that leaf.
A movement of ¹⁴C-photosynthates out of a particular bulb section into neighbouring ones could not be detected.

I International Symposium on Flowerbulbs

J. van Die, T. Tietema

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1971.23.5