COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGY OF THE CARPEL IN THE ROSACEAE VII. POMOIDEAE: CHAENOMELES,CYDONIA, DOCYNIA

The multi-ovulate pomoids, Chaenomeles, Cydonia, and Docynia, all have closed sutures and extensive fusion between carpel and floral cup and between ovular and wing bundles. Although the ovules in Docynia are generally apotropic and few in number (4–7), the ovules in the other two genera are pleurotropic and numerous (15–48). A statistical treatment of the whole tribe of Pomoideae shows that in carpels with open sutures ovular and wing bundles definitely tend to be separate while in those with closed sutures these bundles tend to be fused. To a lesser degree carpels with open sutures also tend to have bitegmic ovules, separate carpels, and a lesser extent of fusion between carpel and floral cup, while carpels with closed sutures tend to have monotegmic ovules, united carpels, and a greater extent of fusion between carpel and floral cup.