ANALYSIS OF PETAL VENATION IN RANUNCULUS. I. ANASTOMOSES IN R. REPENS V. PLENIFLORUS

Arnott , Howard J., and Shirley C. Tucker . (Northwestern U., Evanston, Ill.) Analysis of petal venation in Ranunculus. I. Anastomoses in R. repens v. pleniflorus. Amer. Jour. Bot. 50(8): 821–830. Illus. 1963.—The venation patterns of 1218 petals of Ranunculus repens v. pleniflorus were analyzed, with particular attention to the number and position of vein anastomoses. The essentially open dichotomous vascular pattern is complicated by the presence of vein fusions in 69.4% of the petals. The anastomosis ratio (number of anastomoses/number of appendages) is, therefore, high (1.37), compared to a maximal 0.61 for Ginkgo leaves. Of the petals having such fusions, 55.3% have more than 1 anastomosis; the maximal number of fusions found per petal is 8. The presence of anastomoses shows a high degree of correlation with petal size and petal lobing. The types of fusions (types A, B, C, D) are identical with those found in Ginkgo leaves, with the addition of 2 modifications of type C. Curiously, types C and D account for 98.7% of the total anastomoses, while types A and B are rare. An analysis of the location of each type within the petal shows that type C's are disproportionately numerous along the distal periphery, and that type-D fusions are unusually numerous in the central and basal regions. Such evidence suggests that the occurrence of a vein fusion is no “accident,” but rather that it is one manifestation of morphogenetic control.