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Chapter 11 - Reproductive development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Helgi Öpik  and
Stephen A. Rolfe
Edited in consultation with
Arthur J. Willis
Helgi Öpik
Affiliation:
University of Wales, Swansea
Stephen A. Rolfe
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Arthur J. Willis
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
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Summary

Introduction

Reproductive development of flowering plants has been studied for many hundreds, if not thousands, of years. This is not surprising, given the importance of flowering, fruiting and seed setting in agriculture. Society also has a fascination with producing ever more diverse flowers for horticultural purposes. The rose is the oldest known domesticated flower and its popularity endures today; over 103 million roses are sent for Valentine's day in the USA alone, with the global trade in all cut flowers exceeding $4 billion annually. Moreover, since cut flowers are desired at all seasons, control of the time of flowering has great commercial value. Hence a study of the reproductive processes of flowering plants is of great economic importance as well as enabling us to understand the functioning of plants in their natural ecosystems.

Juvenility and ‘ripeness to flower’

Vegetative growth eventually leads to a transition to reproductive development. However, plants will not flower, nor respond to environmental stimuli which ensure subsequent flowering, until they have completed a certain period of vegetative growth and reached ‘ripeness to flower’. A plant can therefore be considered to pass through three growth phases:

  1. juvenile – in which it will not flower

  2. mature – in which appropriate environmental stimuli will evoke flowering

  3. reproductive – in which flowering actually takes place

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Chapter
Information
The Physiology of Flowering Plants , pp. 270 - 317
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2005

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