Summary
Floral biology of Dioscorea alata L. was studied. Anthesis occurred in male flowers by 12.30 h and in female flowers between 13.00 h and 14.30 h. Male flowers remained open for 4–5 hours and female flowers for 9–11 days.
Natural pollination was practically absent but parthenocarpic fruit development was observed in rare cases. For hand pollination a simple and efficient ‘pencil method’ was standardised. Pollen remained viable for 4–5 hours whereas stigma receptivity lasted for 9–10 days. The optimum time of pollination was found to be between 12.00 h and 15.00 h. Several factors like high relative humidity, atmospheric temperatures below 30°C and non-bagging the female flowers were found to promote fruit set.
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Abraham, K., Gopinathan Nair, P. Floral biology and artificial pollination in Dioscorea alata L.. Euphytica 48, 45–51 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028959
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028959