FLOWER MORPHOLOGY AND SEXUAL STATUS OF DANAE RACEMOSA (L.) MOENCH. (ASPARAGACEAE)

A morphometric analysis of the shrub flowers from the family Asparagaceae Juss. – Danae racemosa (L.) Moench was carried out in order to determine the sexual form of the plant. The generative shoots of D. racemosa have both single flowers and racemose inflorescences. Inflorescences, as a rule, contain from 2 to 5 flowers. Three types of flowers were identified: staminate and bisexual flowers with different lengths of the pistil column (medium-columnar and long-columnar). Despite D. racemosa flowers’ belonging to different morphological and sexual types, they do not have significant differences in size and shape of the perianth. Flowers of all types form anthers. In staminate flowers, the gynaeceum is reduced. Cytomorphological analysis of average pollen samples showed that the proportion of morphologically normal pollen grains of long-columnar flowers is 37.13 % (95 % CI: 34.00–40.38 %) and has a statistically significant difference compared to pollen grains of bisexual (medium-columnar) (χ2 = 163.43) and staminate (χ2 = 109.03) flowers in which this indicator is 61–66 %. A significant proportion of sterile and abnormal pollen grains in long-columbed flowers indicates a tendency to sterility of the male gametophyte, which is a sign of pistillate flowers. A comparative morphometric analysis of pollen grains contained in the anthers of various flower types showed that the largest pollen grains are in the long-columnar form of flowers, and the smallest are characteristic of medium-columnar flowers. Their differences are statistically significant according to the parameters of the equatorial diameter and the polar axis. At D. racemosa there wasn’t revealed a clear relationship between the number of flowers forming an inflorescence and their sexual type. Considering the ratio of various flower types on inflorescences and generative shoots of D. racemosa, the sexual forms of the species are andromonoecism, trimonoecism and monoecism