REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF THE HILL GLORY BOWER, CLERODENDRUM INFORTUNATUM L. (LAMIACEAE)

Authors

  • B. Dileepu Kumar
  • D. Sandhya Deepika
  • A. J. Solomon Raju Andhra University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4462/annbotrm-13753

Keywords:

CLERODENDRUM INFORTUNATUM, DICHOGAMY, HERKOGAMY, FACULTATIVE XENOGAMY, ORNITHOCHORY, ANTHROPOCHORY, ANEMOCHORY.

Abstract

Clerodendrum infortunatum L. is a gregarious woody shrub that flowers during dry season. The flowers are strongly protandrous, herkogamous and dichogamous displaying temporal dioecy. The flowers prevent spontaneous autogamy but facilitate geitonogamy and xenogamy which together constitute the facultative xenogamous breeding system. The flowers are visited by diurnal insects, bees, ants, thrips and butterflies of which only papilionid and pierid butterflies are pollinators. The fruit is an indehiscent drupe with fleshy mericarps and each mericarp consists of one seed only. The reddish fruiting calyx exposes the ripe fleshy fruit. The birds such as Acridotheres tristis, Corvus splendens, Corvus macrorhynchos and Turdoides caudatus, and humans feed on the fleshy part of the fruit and disperse seeds. The seeds soon dry up and also disperse by wind easily due to dry conditions during summer season. Therefore, the plant is ornithochorous, anthropochorous and anemochorous. The seeds germinate and produce new plants during wet season. Further, the perennial root stock also re-sprouts at the same time and produces new growth to carry out new reproductive cycle

Author Biography

A. J. Solomon Raju, Andhra University

Dr. Aluri Jacob Solomon Raju is a Professor of Environmental Sciences in Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India. He was the Head of the Department during 2009-2012. He is currently the Chairman, Board of Studies of the Department. Further, he is a member of Academic Senate of the Andhra University. He was the Visiting Professor of University of Colima, Mexico. He was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Akron, USA for a period of two years. He has published more than 300 research papers, participated and presented scores of research papers at more than 75 national and more than 50 International conferences held in India and abroad.  He visited USA, Canada, UK, Brazil, Paraguay, Italy, Mexico, France, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Ethiopia and Tanzania. In recognition of his superior record of scholarship, he was awarded Distinguished Achievement Award by the University of Akron, USA. He is also the recipient of Best Research Award and Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Best Academician Award of Andhra University, Loyola Environmental Award from Loyola College, Chennai and Andhra Pradesh Scientist Award from Andhra Pradesh Council of Science & Technology, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. He successfully completed a number of major research projects on the Eastern Ghats Forests funded by ICAR, UGC, DST, CSIR, DBT and MoEF. He has been awarded UGC-BSR Grant for distinguished achievements in his research field. He has also worked on biodiesel plants such as Pongamia and Jatropha and work on these plants laid foundation for others to initiate work in commercial lines.  He has also published ten books on various subjects published by national and international publishers. Twenty five Ph.Ds and 10 M.Phils were awarded under his guidance. Further, he is currently serving as a resource person for All India Radio, TV Channels, Consultant for issues relating to environment. Further, he is currently operating a DST Project on the reproductive biology keystone plant species. He is an expert-cum-reviewer for scores of scientific journals published by Elsevier, Springer publishers, Indian Publishers, US Publishers and African Publishers. He is the Chief Editor of Advances in Pollen-Spore Research and Journal of Palynology. He is the Expert member of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India in sanctioning the research projects.  

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Published

2017-05-12

How to Cite

Dileepu Kumar, B., Sandhya Deepika, D., & Solomon Raju, A. J. (2017). REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF THE HILL GLORY BOWER, CLERODENDRUM INFORTUNATUM L. (LAMIACEAE). Annali Di Botanica, 7, 43–56. https://doi.org/10.4462/annbotrm-13753

Issue

Vol. 7 (2017)

Section

Research Articles

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