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aestivation of sepals


Aestivation is the manner the five different sepals of Antirrhinum majus overlap. The sepals are enumerated from 1 to five beginning with the left sepal on lower side of the flower and numbering 2 the sepal most close to the stem. This second sepal is overlapped in most cases by the next (lateral) sepals. Those in turn either overlap or are overlapped by the next two sepals, giving a total of eight different possibilities of aestivation. The following diagrams A to H show chematically the eight different aestivation patterns: A single inflorescence of Antirrhinum majus may contain different aestivation patterns. In Klemm M. 1927 the aestivation of three inflorescences (of "normal" genotype) is given starting from the first (lowermost) flower:
BBCBEDH
CEAFAAAAGAGAAAA
HHHDHBBHHH
Further statistical investigation is needed to determine whether the aestivation can be considered completely random or dependent on genotype and/or environment.
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The URL of this page is http://www.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/snapdragon/devlopment/aestivation.html
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This page has last been modified on August 27, 1997.