FLOWER MORPHOLOGY AND FLORAL SEQUENCE IN ARTEMISIA ANNUA (ASTERACEAE)

Premise of the study: Artemisia annua produces phytochemicals possessing antimalarial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and anthelmintic activities. The main active ingredient, artemisinin, is extremely effective against malaria. Breeding to develop cultivars producing high levels of artemisinin can help meet worldwide demand for artemisinin and its derivatives. However, fundamental reproductive processes, such as the sequence of flowering and fertility, are not well understood and impair breeding and seed propagation programs. Methods: Capitulum structure and floral sequence were studied using light and scanning electron microscopy to describe inflorescence architecture, floret opening, and seed set. Key results: Florets are minute and born in capitula containing pistillate ray florets and hermaphroditic disk florets. Ray florets have elongated stigmatic arms that extend prior to disk floret opening. Disk florets exhibit protandry. During the staminate phase, pollen is released within a staminate tube and actively presented with projections at the tip of stigmas as the pistil elongates. During the pistillate phase, stigmatic arms bifurcate and reflex. Stigmas are of the dry type and stain positively for polysaccharides, lipids, and an intact cuticle. Floret numbers vary with genotype, and capitula are predominantly composed of disk florets. Both ray and disk florets produce filled seed. Conclusions: Gynomonoecy, early opening of ray florets, and dichogamy of disk florets promote outcrossing in A. annua. For breeding and seed development, flowering in genotypes can be synchronized under short days according to the floral developmental stages defined. Floret number and percentage seed fill vary with genotype and may be a beneficial selection criterion.