Exogenous 5-azaCitidine accelerates flowering and external GA3 increases ornamental value in Iranian Anemone accessions.

The Anemone genus is a tuberous geophyte which undergoes a dormancy period during unfavorable environmental conditions for growth. Five species of the Anemone genus naturally grow in several regions of Iran. The diverse uses of Anemone in gardens for landscaping, cut flowers, and potted plants indicate its high ornamental potential. Its dormancy and flowering are influenced by various factors. The present paper was conducted to explore the flowering behavior of Anemone accessions in response to different pre-treatments. For this purpose, tubers of 18 Anemone accessions (A. coronaria and A. biflora) were collected from natural regions of six provinces in Iran. These tubers were subjected to different conditions of non-chilling (20 °C, 90 days), chilling (4 °C, 90 days), GA3 (150 mgL-1; 24 h), and 5-azaCitidine (5-azaC; 40 µM; 24 h) prior to the cultivation. Most of the accessions were able to enter the flowering stage without chilling. The shortest period for the sprouting of tubers (16.89 ± 7.83 days) belonged to 5-azaC pre-treatment. In addition, this treatment accelerated the flowering time (about 30 days earlier) and diameter of the stem, bud, and flower. Morphological characteristics, such as stem height, number of leaves, bud, and petal and the longevity of flowers on the plant were significantly affected by GA3 pre-treatment. Our results indicated a positive correlation between flower length, stem height, and stem diameter with flower longevity under different pre-treatment conditions. The present study demonstrated that accessions Anm3, Anm12, and Anm18 had ornamental values higher than the population mean across four conditions.

Spiral phyllotaxis underlies constrained variation in Anemone (Ranunculaceae) tepal arrangement.

Stabilization and variation of floral structures are indispensable for plant reproduction and evolution; however, the developmental mechanism regulating their structural robustness is largely unknown. To investigate this mechanism, we examined positional arrangement (aestivation) of excessively produced perianth organs (tepals) of six- and seven-tepaled (lobed) flowers in six Anemone species (Ranunculaceae). We found that the tepal arrangement that occurred in nature varied intraspecifically between spiral and whorled arrangements. Moreover, among the studied species, variation was commonly limited to three types, including whorls, despite five geometrically possible arrangements in six-tepaled flowers and two types among six possibilities in seven-tepaled flowers. A spiral arrangement, on the other hand, was unique to five-tepaled flowers. A spiral phyllotaxis model with stochasticity on initiating excessive primordia accounted for these limited variations in arrangement in cases when the divergence angle between preexisting primordia was less than 144°. Moreover, interspecific differences in the frequency of the observed arrangements were explained by the change of model parameters that represent meristematic growth and differential organ growth. These findings suggest that the phyllotaxis parameters are responsible for not only intraspecific stability but interspecific difference of floral structure. Decreasing arrangements from six-tepaled to seven-tepaled Anemone flowers demonstrate that the stabilization occurs as development proceeds to increase the component (organ) number, in contrast from the intuition that the variation will be larger due to increasing number of possible states (arrangements).

[Microscopic identification of homonym drugs of "Baitouweng" by digital imaging technique].

AIM: To identify the commercial drugs collected from 11 different areas with name of "Baitouweng", in order to understand the homonym status of Baitouweng in markets. METHODS: Based on macroscopic identification, we further studied the microscopic structures of the collected samples by digital imaging technique. RESULTS: Nine species belong to 4 different families have been found out from the commercial drugs of "Baitouweng". There are the roots of Pulsatilla chinensis (Bunge) Regel (recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia with name "Baitouweng"), P. cernua (Thunb.) Bercht et Opiz, P. turczaninovii Kryl. et Serg., P. dahurica (Fisch.) Spreng., Anemone tomentosa (Maxim.) Pei, Rhaponticum uniflorum (L.) DC. and the herbs of Potentilla chinensis Ser., Po. discolor Beg. and Polycarpaea corymbosa Lam.. CONCLUSION: The original plants of the crude drug "Baitouweng" were still promiscuous in the market because there are different medicinal usages in different areas resulting in the phenomenon of homonym for Baitouweng. Otherwise, the digital photographs offered by the paper visually reflected the main microscopic characteristics of the commercial "Baitouweng", can be used for the identification of the above drugs.