The Relationships between the Right- and Left-handedness of Organ Arrangement and the Direction of Ovary Curvature in Cucumber

Abstract

The relationship between right- and left-handedness and the direction of ovary curvature in cucumber was investigated.
The phyllotaxy was 2/5 with an angular divergence of 144 degrees. Plants with right- and left-handed phyllotactic spirals in the main stem were almost equally frequent.
The phyllotactic spiral was reversed alternately on lateral shoots of increasing order.
A cross-section of the internodes was pentagonal in shape. In the next upper internode, reversal of the configuration depended on whether the spiral of the stem was right- or left-handed.
A typical female flower consisted of 5 sepals, 5 petals, 3 stigmas and 3 carpels. A cross-section of the central part of the ovary revealed 10 vascular bundles in the outer tissue (receptacle). They were connected to the central bases of the 5 sepals and 5 petals. The carpel facing the tendril was the smallest, and that on the opposite side was the largest.
In most cases, the inner curve of the ovary faced towards the tendril.
A high correlation was found between the right- and left-handedness and the direction of ovary curvature in cucumber.