Ontogeny and Metamorphic Patterns of Female Reproductive Organs of Ephedra sinica Stapf (Ephedraceae)

Ontogeny and metamorphic development of female reproductive organs in Ephedra sinica Stapf were surveyed. At the end of April, female cones began to initialize from the vegetative buds. Pollination occurred in mid-May and seeds matured at the beginning of July. The ontogenetic pattern of female reproductive organs of E.sinica is basically similar to that of E.　distachya L. The foliar nature of the outer envelope of the ovule in Ephedra is corroborated. Reduction of ovule number as a tendency of speciation in the genus is substantiated by the occurrence of tri-ovulate cones coupled with comprehensive characters of the genus. The metamorphic patterns as well as the leaf nature of the outer envelope indicate that female cones of Ephedra are compound while the female reproductive units of the ovulate cone have been reduced from secondary reproductive shoots similar to those of cordaites by phylogenetic transformation, fusion and reduction. Each fertile bract together with its axillary female reproductive unit composed the Bract Scale and Seed Scale Complex of Ephedra .