Abstract

LAGOS BURBANO, Tulio César  and  BENAVIDES ARTEAGA, Karen Evelin. REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF White Balsa Wood (Heliocarpus americanus L.). Bol. Cient. Mus. Hist. Nat. Univ. Caldas [online]. 2014, vol.18, n.2, pp.28-44. ISSN 0123-3068.

Studies of floral biology are the basis to advance in conservation and use of genetic resources processes. In order to study some aspects of floral biology and morphologically describe the fruit and seed of Heliocarpus americanus, 1,000 two mm long flower buds (zero state) were labeled. The variables evaluated were length of flower bud, length and width of calyx, length and width of corolla, length and diameter of the ovary, length and width of the anther, filament length, style, length and pedicel length. These assessments were carried out every three to 33 days, when fertilization occurred. For the fruit, the polar axis, equatorial diameter, length and thickness of the peduncle was studied. Measurements were made every six days for 111 days when the fruit reached maturity. Similarly, the viability and maturation of the reproductive organs of the flower and seed germination were evaluated. The growth of whorls and fruit were adjusted to the quadratic model of the form y = B₀+B₁X+B₂X². Pollen begins maturation nine days after with a 54.34% viability. The pistil receptivity occurred at 15 days, coinciding with anthesis. The fruit has from one to three seeds and the germination percentage was 64% at 21 days. With this study, the bases for reproductive biology of H. americanus are set which will serve for propagation studies and genetic improvement of this species.

Keywords : growth; development; viability; receptivity; pollen; ovary.

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