Re: Ovules and pods
- To: hosta-open@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: Ovules and pods
- From: h*@open.org
- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 09:20:55 -0800 (PST)
Charles:
>My question is: is the pod count and the number of ovules within the
>pods an inherent characteristic of a species and/or hybrid cultivar?
>Can some of these look-a-likes recently discussed on the robins be
>distinguished by ovule pod/count?
I had some hosta pods sitting around so I took out the seeds and
counted around 22 to 24 "seeds" per pod. I suspect that the vast
majority of hoats contain between 20 and 40 ovules per ovary. You
will find some variation in the number of ovules per pod, and some of
the species may have different median values for the number of ovules
per pod, but they will be so much overlap of the number of ovules that
it won't have much significence. If you do the proper statistical
analysis you will find that most of the variation in the number of
ovules per pod will be highly correlated with the length of the mature
pod. If you also include the diameter of the mature pod you could do
some multivariate statistical analysis and come up with a formula
based on length and width to predict the number of ovules per pod.
This would be an interesting, but mostly irrelevant exercise. The
shape, length and width of the mature pods will have more value as a
taxonomic tool than the number of ovules per pod.
Joe Halinar
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