Ontogenetic changes of phyllotaxis in Anagallis arvensis L.

Abstract

During the ontogeny of Anagallis spontaneous changes of phyllotaxis appear in a regular sequence. The initial decussate pattern is followed by spiral Fibonacci phyllotaxis, this in turn, by a trimerous pattern, and finally Lucas spiral phyllotaxis is formed. In the course of the first and most common phyllotactic transition, from the decussate to spiral Fibonacci pattern, changes in primordia arrangement occur only within a limited sector of the apex circumference. In the complementary sector, primordia emerge as if the decussate phyllotaxis continued. It is likely that similar circumferential discontinuity accounts for further transitions. The common ontogenetic sequence of patterns in Anagallis is such that, theoretically, each transition requires minimal changes in shoot apex geometry. Although the meristem in Anagallis is able to produce primordia either in whorls or spirally, the elongated shoots of this plant seem to have leaves exclusively in whorls. It appeared that in shoots with an initially spiral pattern, leaves can be clustered in pseudo-whorls due to the uneven internode elongation. Pseudowhorls are composed usually of three (Fibonacci) or four (Lucas) leaves of successive nodes. The number of leaves in a pseudo-whorl equals the number of leaves positioned on one revolution of the ontogenetic helix, which is different in these two spiral patterns. In shoot apices with whorled phyllotaxis, the leaf and flower primordia of a whorl are of different size. On elongated shoots, flower buds emerging in the axils of leaves of one whorl also differ in size.