Improvement of minor (Umbelliferous) spices in India
TL;DR: In this article, only the problems of application of breeding methods in the improvement of spices have been tackled, leaving other problems of varied nature, which are left other problems to be solved.
Abstract: The importance of minor spices in India is well known. In addition to local consumption, sizable amounts of minor spices (15,747 tonnes) are being exported to different parts of the world and earning 12.6 million dollars (Anonymous, 1979). In India, ajowan, celery, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel are minor (umbelliferous) spices which are extensively cultivated in Rajasthan, Gujrat, Andhra Pradesh, Madya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Panjab. It is considered (Aiyadurai, 1966) that Indian spices are of the finest quality and today the demand for them has considerably increased in all countries (Anonymous, 1977a). Work on improvement of minor spices throughout India has been scanty and disjointed. Up until now solitary effort has been made by Aiyadurai (1966) in reviewing the work done on Indian spices. In the present article only the problems of application of breeding methods in the improvement of spices have been tackled, leaving other problems of varied nature.
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01 Jan 1989
TL;DR: Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller) belongs to the Umbelliferae family and was originally found around the Mediterranean Basin and has long been cultivated and introduced into many regions outside of that zone and has become naturalized in some of them.
Abstract: Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller) belongs to the Umbelliferae family and was originally found around the Mediterranean Basin It has long been cultivated and introduced into many regions outside of that zone and has become naturalized in some of them Although it can bear widely different climates and be cultivated in cold climates as well as in tropical regions, it develops best in temperate climates In the Mediterranean climate, wild fennel often grows densely, with a potentiality of invading crops In some areas where it has become naturalized, as in California for example, it has spread so much that in some cases it has become a weed (Bailey 1930) As in most UmbeUiferae, the plant has secretory canals in all the organs (Kadry et al 1978) and produces an essential oil rich in aromatic components The chief constituent of the essence is anethole (Fig 1), which gives the plant its anise fragrance, but it also contains, in variable quantities, other elements, such as fenchone, estragole, anisaldehyde and terpenes (d-pinene, α-d-phellandrene, camphene) (Vlahov et al 1964; Fujita et al 1980) The genus Foeniculum is monospecific, and is represented only by the vulgare species The latter, however, has been split into two subspecies: ssp piperitum (Ucria) Coutinho and ssp capillaceum (Gilib) Holmboe (Hegi 1966) Foeniculum vulgare ssp piperitum is a perennial type of fennel that only grows wild and can be differentiated from ssp capillaceum by its short and rigid lobed leaves, as well as by a small number of rays in the umbels and by its very bitter fruit The ssp capillaceum, on the contrary, is characterized by long and supple lobed leaves as well as by a large number of rays in the umbels and less bitter fruit In the latter subspecies, three varieties are usually distinguished The variety vulgare (Miller) Thellung (Foeniculum vulgare Miller) (bitter fennel) comprises a group of perennial plants with rather long fruit having a more or less bitter taste The variety dulce (Miller) Thellung (=Foeniculum dulce Miller = Foeniculum panmorium DC) (sweet fennel), on the contrary, consists of annuals, exceptionally biannuals, with smaller fruit, whose sweet taste is a result of the low fenchone content in the essential oil (Osisiogu 1967; Betts 1968) The variety azoricum (Miller) Thellung (=Foeniculum azoricum Miller) (Italian fennel, Florence fennel), probably stemming from one of the above varieties by horticultural selection, also consists of annuals producing small sweet fruit In these plants, however, young leaves of the rosette have hypertrophied and thick sheaves that form a “bulb” similar to that of celery
40 citations
TL;DR: The several cultural stages necessary before the plantlets raised from these embryoids could be transferred to soil are described and most of them did not produce viable seeds and many died during the winter.
30 citations
01 Jan 1984
TL;DR: The results together with the few other studies from natural populations in which large numbers of seeds have been weighed individually show much more variability in individual seed masses than is indicated by the common ecological impression that seed masses tend to be fairly constant.
Abstract: Although seed masses are generally believed to be fairly constant within plant popu- lations and important in plant demography, there have been no studies that quantified the magnitude and partitioning of variation in individual seed masses within and among total seed crops of uncul- tivated plants grown under similar conditions. In Lomatium grayi (Umbelliferae), mass of seeds with endosperm varied 15.8-fold among 2-yr-old plants that were grown from seedlings under similar conditions. Within individual plants, seed masses varied 2.6-fold to 8.1-fold. Forty-four percent of the variance was among seeds within umbels, 16% was between umbels within plants, and 40% was between plants. Plants varied in mean seed mass from 3.7 to 8.3 mg, a 2.2-fold variation in means. The distribution of means around the grand mean was not skewed but was significantly leptokurtic. Coefficients of variation among the means averaged 26% (range: 16-48). These results together with the few other studies from natural populations in which large numbers of seeds have been weighed individually show much more variability in individual seed masses than is indicated by the common ecological impression (based mostly on comparison of means) that seed masses tend to be fairly constant.
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TL;DR: The chromosome numbers of 58 Canadian weeds are reported and the significance of some of these chromosome numbers is discussed.
Abstract: The chromosome numbers of 58 Canadian weeds are reported. Counts obtained on material of Ambrosia psilostachya DC. and Epilobium angustifolium L. differ from those obtained by other workers. The chromosome numbers of the following species had not previously been reported: Silene cserei Baumg. 2n = 24; Axyris amaranthoides L. 2n = 18; Erigeron philadelphicus L. 2n = 18; Lepidium ramosissimum Nels. 2n = 64; Dracocephalum parviflorum Nutt. 2n = 14; Rumex fennicus Murb. 2n = 40; R. occidentalis Wats. 2n = ca. 140; R. stenophyllus Ledeb. 2n = 60. The significance of some of these chromosome numbers is discussed.
154 citations