Abstract
THE leaves of the coconut palm are arranged in five spirals which run in clockwise or anti-clockwise direction1, the phyllotaxy of each spiral being nearly two-fifths2. Patel2 mentions that in a majority of trees the direction of the spiral is towards the left. Observations5 on large numbers of palms from India and elsewhere, however, indicate that the distribution of ‘lefts’ and ‘rights’ is almost equal with a slight excess of ‘lefts’. Available evidence3–5 also shows that the spiral character of the palms is non-inherited and probably not determined genetically.
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References
Petch, T., Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Peradeniya, 5, 538 (1911).
Patel, J. S., The Coconut: a Monograph, 71 (Government Press, Madras, 1938).
Davis, T. A., J. Genet., 58, 42 (1962).
Rep. Agric. Stations, Madras Presidency for 1950–51 (Government Press, Madras, 1952).
Davis, T. A., J. Genet, 58, 186 (1963).
Narayana, G. V., i. Agric. Stations, Madras Presidency, 1940–41, 414 (Government Press, Madras, 1942).
Davis, T. A., Experientia, 18, 321 (1962).
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SATYABALAN, K., NINAN, C. & MARAR, M. Foliar Spiral and Yield in Coconuts. Nature 202, 927–928 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/202927a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/202927a0
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