Staminal Vascular Architecture in Five Dicotyledonous Angiosperms

Staminal vasculature is usually depicted as a single bundle extending unchanged through the filament and ending at some level in the anther. Because some authors have suggested that this view is oversimplified, stamens of five dicot species were studied in detail. The basifixed anthers of Asarum canadense, Drimys winteri, and Isopyrum biternatum have a single vascular bundle which becomes dilated in the connective, along with other specializations which vary from species to species. Pyrus sp. and Prunus virginiana have dorsifixed anthers in which the filament bundle branches after entry into the anther. The extent of branching, and the internal architecture of the bundles, varies with the form of the stamen