Flower morphology and sexual phenotype of Capparis ovata Desf.

It was aimed to investigate the flower morphology and sexual phenotypes of Capparis ovata Desf. A C. ovata population inhabits in Çorum Osmancık Kumbaba locality. A total of 68 flower samples were collected from the population and their morphological characteristics and sexual phenotypes were investigated. According to the morphometric data, the coefficient of variation (CV) was calculated for the examined traits. Petal width (CV:3.11-20.26%) and sepal width (CV: 3.17-20.57%) showed the highest variation range. In terms of flower phenotype, 25 out of 68 flowers (36.76%) showed perfect flower and 43 (63.24%) showed male flower phenotype. The perfect flowers are hypogeynous flowers and have campylotropous type ovules. C. ovata has zygomorphic flower. C. ovata Desf. plants were defined as andromonoecious due to both the male flower and the perfect flower are present on the same plant. In conclusion, according to morphological analysis, a remarkably high variation was observed in flower morphological structures and the ratio of male flowers were found to be more common than perfect flowers in the C. ovata Desf. population. During evolutionary history, the protandry feature, in which male and female reproductive organs begin to develop at different times in perfect flowers, emerged in plants to prevent the depression of self-pollination, and inbreeding.