Research on Number Variation of Floral Organ in Onion(Allium cepaL.)

Three conventional cultivars of onion JQS-1,MST-140 and Red beauty were used as materials to observe the statistical changes in the number of onion floral organs.The results showed that:(1)Normally,a single onion floret consisted of 6stamens.However,the number of stamens decreased to 5in lot of abnormal florets.In contrast,the number of stamens increased from 7to 11 in part of onion flowers.The normal anthers produced abundant pollens,which were uniformly dispersed in anther.However there were a lot of pollens with irregular shape in the abnormal anthers;(2)Some flower with abnormal pistil were also observed,for example,the number of ovaries were decreased to 2or increased to 4or 6.Meanwhile the number of stayle was increased from 1to 2or 3;(3)Normal flower consisted of 6tepals,but abnormal flower contain 5to 10 tepals.It contains synchronous and non-synchronous types of variation in the changes of tepals and stamens number.These studies may offer some basis for the researches on diversity of floral organ development,rich the patterns of floral development and the classification and system development of plant.