[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: New flowers
Chuck Gadd wrote:
>But it's on a tiny stem that comes from the main stem on the big
>floating leaf. And it doesn't ever open fully to form a regular
>leaf. It's tiny stem comes from the same spot on the main stem
>where the flower stem and banana tubers form.
>
It probably is a somewhat modified leaf that is sometimes produced before
the flower is. All flower parts are essentially modified leaves---the
sepals, petals, stamens, and ovary are all modified leaves. The "bananas"
are probably roots, modified for storage. The spot on the main stem that
sends up the flower and the banana tubers is a growth point or meristematic
region that is capable of producing leaves, stem, and roots. It is a
region where cells divide and differentiate. It could be that, as the
meristematic region is switching over to the production of a flower, it
might produce a leaf that is part way inbetween a regular leaf and a flower
part.
If you still have one of these structures, try opening it up and see if it
looks like a leaf inside. Are there veins? Is it green?
Paul Krombholz, wondering what it takes to get it to rain in dry central
Mississippi