An Ultrastructural Investigation of the Anther Wall and Tapetum in Capparis Spinosa L. VAR. Inermis

SUMMARY

Electron microscopic observations were carried out on anther wall and tapetal cells of Capparis spinosa var. inermis. The tapetum is single-layered and is of secretory type. In the early stages the cells are vacuolate and multinucleate. The tapetum plastids are always devoid of starch. The orbicles are smooth surfaced and spherical with diameters averaging 300 nm. The middle layers are precociously formed by vacuolate, organelle-poor cells. The endothecium shows typical wall thickenings. The plastid populations in the wall layers change from apparently photosynthetically active chloroplasts to amyloplasts and later to senescent chloroplasts. A peculiar chloroplast type is present in cells near the vascular bundle. The epidermis has a cuticle eventually exhibiting a complex network of sinuously linear ridges.