Stigmatic Morphology of Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollissima Blume)

Abstract

The stigmatic morphology of Chinese chestnut was studied with scanning electron microscopy. The stigma is typically needle-shaped with a small aperture ≈50 μm in diameter on the top. During late April and early May in Yunnan Province, China, stigma secretion begins and within 1 week, secretion increases quickly and completely covers the stigma aperture. In “high fruit load” trees, the stigma aperture appears larger than in “low fruit load” trees, which in turn have a larger aperture than “empty cupule” trees. Likewise, stigma secretion in female flowers on “high fruit load” trees was higher than “low fruit load” or “empty cupule” trees.