Jim Waddick wrote:
Cleistogamy: The production of flowers that do not open to
> expose the reproductive organs, so preventing cross pollination.
>
> as opposed to
>
> Apomixis Asexual reproduction in plants without fertilization
> or meiosis.
>
> Both topics are quite different and as they relate to bulbs
> are worthy of discussion.
>
>
> Finally, I can't recall such a situation in bulbous plants
> off hand, but I haven't really thought about much. Hardly worth a
> reply.
>
I'm not trying to beat a dead horse, but some examples might help
less experienced
readers:
Lilium regale, the Regal lily, was for years regarded as apomictic,
as seedlings from it
always resembled the mother, regardless of what pollen was placed on the
stigma. Hybrids
were obtained from it by using the pollen from L. regale on other
lilies--which wasn't very
hard, as it flowers early in the lily season and pollen could be
gathered and stored for use
on later flowering lilies.
Whether or not this was an example of true apomixis was the subject
of discussion and
I'm not sure what the final decision was--if there was one.
In Scott Ogden's Book "Garden Bulbs for the South", page 16, he
states "The abundant
seed of Zephranthes citrina invariably comes true to its golden mother",
and "due to what
botanists call parthenogenesis".
In the next paragraph [referring to Z 'Ajax'] he states "It's
likely that Z. candida was the
seed parent, or "mother" of this hybrid", and "for parthenogenesis would
otherwise have
blocked the cross."
So, these terms do have relevance to bubs, and/or the production of
hybrids of
bulbs.
Ken