Seed pods - good or bad?
Antennaria@aol.com (Tue, 29 Jun 2004 21:15:46 PDT)
From: "diana chapman" rarebulbs@earthlink.net wrote:
Since with most California geophytes the
foliage has pretty much withered by the time
the plant is in full bloom, it seems to me that
by the time seed is developing the plant must
draw nutrients from the bulb or corm.
Otherwise, the green stem would have to provide,
through photosynthesis, all the starches and
sugars needed for the developing seed. Maybe
that's possible, but since Calochortus and the
Brodiaea group produce a lot of seed, it seems
unlikely.
Interesting point. This response for ALLIUM only. I have found that many
allium, in the species that have true bulbs rather than rhizomes, that the
flower stems are often virtually dehisced from the bulb at the flowering stage.
This is particularly true of dryland American alliums, and among certain
sections of the genus Allium. If one where to cut off a flowering allium stem at
early anthesis, placed in a vase, and keep for weeks, you might be surprised to
find that it continues to develop, and some viable seed will be produced.
Apomixis is in evidence with a number of Allium species, needing no cross
fertilization to make seed. In many species of Allium, the gone-to-seed stem detaches
and pulls off the bulb almost immediately.
So, for allium, I think I could generalize and suggest that leaving the
drying flower stem and foliage has no beneficial effect for the bulb, in Allium
species that have true bulbs only. None of these comments apply to rhizomatous
sections of the genus, or those species that have a combination of bulb and
rhizome.
Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
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