Aberrant Ovules in Angiosperms: A Review of Selected Examples and New Observations on Ornithogalum caudatum (Liliaceae)

While studying the events of megasporogenesis and megagametogenesis in Ornithogalum caudatum Ait., two ovules were observed which were quite different from the others. These two ovules were from separate ovaries, but the aberrant condition was the same in each ovule. In both cases, the ovule consisted of a single set of integuments enclosing two side-by-side nucelli each with its own developing megaspore. Such multiple-megagametophyte ovules may represent a now-defunct developmental pathway from the early evolutionary history of angiosperm ovules