Morphological and anatomical features of mature embryos and seedlings in Cuscuta japonica Choisy were observed at different growth stages. Scarified seeds treated with concentrated sulphuric acid germinated in the dark at 3093 incubator. A spirally co...
Morphological and anatomical features of mature embryos and seedlings in Cuscuta japonica Choisy were observed at different growth stages. Scarified seeds treated with concentrated sulphuric acid germinated in the dark at 3093 incubator. A spirally coiled embryo had no cotyledons but a massive radicle. Most cells of embryos soaked for 16 hr did not have starch grains, whereas the shoot cells of three-day-old seedlings possessed numerous starch grains. After three-day-old seedlings were transferred to a lightened growth chamber, the shoot apical regions of all seedlings grown in the light condition for six, eight, and ten days were greenish and hooked. Most cells of shoots including the green apical part contained abundant starch grains. The hooks were opened only when one seedling made a contact with another seedling. It suggested that the green and hooked shoot apical segment may play a important role in searching and twining a host plant. In some of two-day-old seedlings, the massive root showed a circular or half-circular shape. Such a root could support the shoot axis of a seedling to stand erectly on some substratum. It was assumed that the roots may help the shoots to contact with a host plant. The green apical part of eight-day-old seedlings were hooked like a hairpin and the roots were considerably degraded.