Floral morphogenesis of Celtis species: implications for breeding system and reduced floral structure

Celtis is the most species-rich genus of Cannabaceae, an economically important family. Celtis species have been described as wind-pollinated and andromonoecious. However, the andromonoecy of Celtis has been debated because there are reports of monoclinous flowers with non-opening anthers on short filaments. Our objective was to study the floral morphogenesis of Celtis to establish the breeding system and to better understand the developmental patterns that lead to the formation of reduced flowers in the genus.

Flowers and floral buds of Celtis species were studied using scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution x-ray computed tomography, and light microscopy.

All flowers initiate stamens and carpels during early floral development, but either stamens or carpels abort during later stages. Thus, at anthesis, flowers are either functionally pistillate or functionally staminate. In pistillate flowers, stamens abort late and become staminodes with normal-looking anthers. These anthers have no functional endothecium and, in most of the species studied, produce no viable pollen grains. The gynoecium is pseudomonomerous, and its vascularization is similar in the sampled species. In staminate flowers, the gynoecium aborts early resulting in small pistillodes. No vestiges of petals were found.

The species studied are monoecious and not andromonoecious as described earlier. The absence of petals, the carpel and stamen abortion, and the pseudomonomerous gynoecium result in the reduced flowers of Celtis species. The use of high-resolution x-ray computed tomography was essential for a more accurate interpretation of ovary vascularization, confirming the pseudomonomerous structure of the gynoecium.