Gibberellin in the Induction of Parthenocarpy in Zephyranthes.

Abstract

The effect of gibberellin in inducing parthenocarpy in Zephyranthes was studied in comparison with indoleacetic acid, kinetin and mixture of IAA and kinetin. The plant shows no tendency toward natural parthenocarpy. Gibberellin induced fruit set over a wide range of concentrations (1 to 1000 ppm), 500 ppm being the optimum. The fruits were larger than the naturally pollinated ones and were full of seeds. The latter were, however, devoid of embryos and endosperm tissue. The administration of IAA yielded small seedless, shrunken fruits while kinetin was entirely inactive. IAA, when used in combination with kinetin, showed no synergistic action on fruit growth.