Floral initiation and differentiation in 'Manila' mango.
Osuna-Enciso T., Engleman E. M., Becerril-Román A. E., Mosqueda-Vázquez R., Soto-Hernández M., Castillo-Morales A.
Author Affiliation: Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, 8000, Apartado Postal 726, Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico.
Agrociencia 34 : 573-581
Abstract : In Veracruz, Mexico, floral differentiation was studied in mango cv. Manila trees which were about 30 years old. Apical buds were sampled every 5 days from October 1994 to March 1995. Based on anatomical observations, an arbitrary scale from 1 to 7 for morphological stages was established. Vegetative buds had dome-shaped apical meristems and axillary protuberances only in the basal nodes. These buds appeared to be dormant during December and January. However, during this period morphological changes related to floral initiation were observed. There was a slight elongation of the main axis, and axillary meristematic protuberances formed in the leaf primordium at the base and middle part of the buds. Up to floral differentiation, buds contained abundant tannins in the medullary meristem. Floral differentiation started in the first 2 weeks of February and ended 4-6 weeks later. Meteorological data showed that low night temperatures (20°C) were more frequent from November to March than during the rest of the year.