Relative Time of Anthesis in Pistillate and Staminate Cucumber Flowers

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Abstract
Staminate (male) floral buds of cucumber plants reach anthesis at consecutive nodes of the main shoot at regular time intervals; however, pistillate (female) buds reach anthesis earlier than male ones, thus causing a marked deviation from the linear chronological sequence of male anthesia along the main shoot. Measured in days, this relative precedence of the female is greatest in winter planting time, when short days and low temperatures cause a shift towards femaleness in the whole plant, and it is smallest in late summer planting when environmental conditions favour male tendency. There are also varietal differences in this respect—in one variety (Beth Alpha) the female precedes the male by a longer period of time than in another variety (Yorkstate Pickling). The position of the female flower on the main shoot does not seem to play an important role in this respect, but, as a rule, the precedence is greater for the first female than for the second or third female developing on the main shoot. It is suggested that the relative enhancement of one type of sex organs (carpels) is a continuous process which determines first the final sex type of the flower and later causes it to reach anthesis earlier.

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