Physiological Analysis of the Mechanism of Fruit-Development in Peanuts

II. The Development of Special Organs of the Gynophores having Root-hair Appearance

Abstract

It is an interesting phenomenon that some root-hair-like organs develop on the surface of gynophores as well as on the skin of the young fruit. They are composed generally of a single cell, rarely of several cells. In the former case they look like the root-hairs, while in the latter case their appearance is somewhat like that of beads. The single-cell hairs develop with the elongation of the epidermal cells of the young portion, while the bead-like hairs grow out from the inner layer, breaking through the epidermis, of the older portion.
These two kinds of hairs develop under wet conditions where the fruit can grow. Dry and physiological drought conditions, under which the fruit cannot develop, inhibit the growth of these root-hair-like organs.
In short, it may be said, as far as the author′s experiments have gone, that the fruit can grow only under conditions where the root-hair-like organs can develop.