University of Nigeria Virtual Library

Serial No

Author 1

OKEZIE, C. E. A.

Author 2

Author 3

Title

The Biology of Dioscoreophy Cumminsh (Staff Diels)

Keywords

Description

The Biology of Dioscoreophy Cumminsh (Staff Diels)

Category

Social Sciences

Publisher

Nigerian Journal of Botany

Publication Date

2004

Signature

SI I (~ ; I I I ( 1 1 1 ~ 1 t ~ 1 1 ;111t1 hd;~):. 1000). 111 N i p i ; i , the p1;1nt 1 ~ s I)CCII i~lcntil'icd 10 grow i n scI:~tivcIy ;~ndisturbcd rain Iorcst : I I ~ ; I S O ~ \ O I I I I I C V I I Nigiv I:I. like tI~c OIIM Ii~~cat i l l I Iilc~iu I.OC;II C ~ O ~ ~ ~ I I I I I ~ I I ( , \ ~ C : I ; I I ~ Ilgwu;ibor forest i n Id1 I .oc:~l t ; o v c r n ~ ~ ~ e n ~ arc;^ ol'1i1111gu Sta~e. 111 I ibo~~yi S ~ ; I I ~ , i l WIS l'ou~iil i n the pr i~i i ;~q I'oreat ~ I I Ntczi, Ngbo

;~ntl I u i : i n I%cl~uc S L I I ~ ;II Otukl);~ Aklmto Sorest while i n Ih;~ili~n it w;is foulid in thc pri~ii:~ry forcsr near the l~ i tcrn~~~ional l n a t i ~ ~ ~ ~ c of'l'ropicxl Agricultw-c (IITA).

'I'lw scrcc~~inp of tropical plants lor unusual taste properties (Anon, 1976) revealed that D. cu~wninsii coritiii~lctl ;I w;~tcr solul)lc sul)star~ce of intensc swccrncss cnllcd n~oncllin (Holloway, 1977) or "Sercndipn (I~lglctt, 1977). Mo~icllin wls iduntilietl to be a psotcin swcctcncr (Morris er ol . , 1973) and is extracted from rllc ~~ii~cil;lgino~rs ~i~c.soc;irp surro~rntling the sccd. Natural swccr proteins arc unique in t l l i ~ t tllcy contain no ~iiodilictl or' I I I I U ~ U ; ~ ~ ;111li11o ; I C ~ ~ S , Iii~ve very Iligl~ I)O\CIICY C ~ I I I J ) ; I I . C ~ to s u p s ;lnd ~ C ' C O I I I ~ O S C ' it110 ;I norm1 distril)utio~l ol';lmi~lo i~cids oil I~ytI~oIysis (I'en;~rrul)i;l 01 d . , l9O2), Moncllin liils been csrimiircd to bc approxi- 111 ;~ ly l O O ~ ~ , ~ M M ~ ti~ncs sweeter tIli111 sugar on :I 1iw1:1r l)i~sis ( l ' ~ ~ i i l ~ r ~ ~ l ~ i a . ~ ~ ( o,', , 1992).

I ) . r~rtrirrrrirr.sii is ;I p1;111t oI'~)ot~nti;~l ininic~isc ccononlic inq)ort;l~icc. Mo~iellin, being i1 prorcin. could replace aug;~r ;IS low c.;~lo~-ic li)oila. S I I ~ ~ i ld~s[rics 11i:ly be very intescstcd in tlic berries of rllc pI;11iI, whicl~ ilt the I I I O I I I ~ I ~ I :~rc Iwing i:ollcctctl f1.0111 I I I C wild. TIic pl;lnl is no1 yct coni~nmercially cultisateti or used by the local

-.pqwl;~liorl to ;Illy IC;I.\OII:I!,~~* csliwt. I)o1l1cstic;ltiol1 ; I I ~ III:ISS prop:lg:ltio~~ of tlic pl;~nt I I ~ I V C bccn difl ic~~lt . .

: I ~ I S I I ~ ~ from ~m)bIc~iis i~ssocii~led with the tlormancp o f lhc seeds. 'fhc prcscll! study altclnl)ls lo invesligate the apxilic I)ioloi!y ol; 1). c~rrr~~rrirr.sii including its Ii;hits ;~nd Ii;~hitat, the problem of germination of the seeds ilnd t l~c possibilities ol'propagi~tirig the pl:lrlt by vcgc~;~tivc nlcans.

NlorpllologitxI Stuclics I ) . c~rirrrrrri~r.vii pl;lnts \ \wc ol)sc~ vctl in thcir 11atur;ll Ilobit;~ts at tlic orb;^ forcsr il l UJcnu L m x l Government

area of Illiugu State. Scctllinca I'rolii ;I gcrmin;~tion test wcrc ;ilso planted out ncar i1 hilrbcd wirc supporting fkricc ;it tlrc I)otanici~l g;~rtlcn I ~ I - support. 'l'llcsc were nlonito~.ctl ul~)ligsitlc 11. rw~rrrrrirr.rii pl;~nts growing in thcir ~iatural h:~bit;~t. 'l 'l~c ~norpliolopical fcaturcs, habits and cllvironniclit;~l cfl'ccts o n tlic plant wcrc studied. Visual ohscrvi~~ion was contluctcd on ~l ic colour, sliapc and s i x of tlic tliffcsc~it pl;~nt org:lns. Mc;lsu~~cmenls of the Icngtli and wid111 of llicse o r p n s \vere takcn.

. .

( ; C ~ I I I ~ I I ~ I ~ ~ O I I Sf11dics ' I ' l~~cc c~xl,c:l~in~c:lits WI (- ( . ; II . I irrl 0111 Iirrc. 'l'wo sccvl-lots off), c~rr;rrrrrirr.rii riiiltlc 111) o f70 sccds cach werc,

usctl 111 the lirst cxl)crimcni. 'l'lic I.i~.st gr1)ul) of twenty sccds \\:;IS storcd in the rdii$cmtor at 5°C for about two r~iontlis, while the S ~ C O I I ~ I jll.oup \vaa 1i6 t . Ihth wcrc so\vn il l g;~ldc~i pots (2 seeds per put) filled with garden soil to dctcrlninc tlic sutc ; i l i t l pc~cc~it:~gc ,gcrniination. 'l'licsc wcsc kept on grecnlloosc hc~iclies 011d watered daily. The ~iulnhcr ol'scctls that gcr~riin;~tcd in cnch cnsc was rccortlctl md the perccnt;rgc gcsniination deter-, mind.

In :I sccond cxpcrinicnl. 20 sccds c;lch were given the following different prc-trc:lt~iic~its bchrc sowing: I ) soaking ovcrniglit in w;lrlii w:llcr (55-6K)

I ) ) so;lking owr11ipl11 i l l W I I I I I \v;~tt*r P I I I S sci~sifi~il~ioii

d ) \ i ~ : ~ k i l ~ y !\\(.I 11iy11t 111 0.?5'1; pol;~hsiwii nitr;~tc c) .MIALIII; I I \C - I I I I ~~ I I 111 c t l ~ ; ~ ~ ~ d i o l 1') \ o ; l k i~~y III LX~IIL~C*II I I~;I IC~ I l,SO, :I[ ~~-1i111e i ~ ~ t c r v ~ ~ l s US 12. 24 ;IIICI 48 h o ~ ~

A IIIIICI c . x p ~ * r i l ~ ~ c ~ ~ t . to ( ~ I : I I I C ~ 111s ~ ~ e r n l i ~ l i ~ t i o l l 1)otcnti;ll 01' seeds 01' l ) . , r . ~ ~ r i ~ ~ i r i r ~ ~ i i , i ~ i \ ~ o l \ u l S C C ~ S that \\c.~c ~ ) ~ c ~ ~ ' c ~ t c d ill g i ld~csc l l i~~ (( ;I\ ,) ;II 5 c.o~isc~itr;~tio~~s viz: 0.05.0.25.0.5.0.75, 1%. and ii control on stcrilc wntcr 101 '.I IIONI~. ?I) hcc(l\ \ vc~c M);II,LXI 111 CYIL~I c o ~ ~ c t : ~ ~ t ~ , ; ~ t i o ~ ~ ol 'GA, ;111d SO\VII i n I)I;Ic~L p o l y t l ~ c ~ ~ c IXI~S l i l lcd with. ~ l w t l i m l ~ I C C * IIIIS~ (111 otic Ii;lwl. ;111d otl~crs ill rivcr s;mI i111d kept OII p r t l cn l~c~ ic l i cs ;I[ the I3otmiical Gardeli 01'1 l ! y i ( , ~ i y 01 N i p * ~ i ; ~ . N!.III,L;I.

b loq) l~ologicd Sllrtlirs Firltl o kw :ition ol'l). cmrrrrtrirr.\ii I). c~~rtrrr~ri~r.\i i pI;~ntx (1:ig. I ) \\.ere fiwlid 10 gernlinntc or sprout i1t Uic;~nsct o f tile rains b c t \ \ ~ l i lntc March

i111tl hl;~?. I'ciung x l ioot~ 01' 11. c w i r r r r i r r vii in tllc I'oscht wcrc fro111 ~ \ v o zo~~rces: those tliilt gcminntctl from sceds '

; t r d 1l11)sc III;II S I N O ~ I I L ~ 1'1.0111 1 t 1 1 ~ w I I I I~CI~OLIII(~. 1:roln 0 to 7 \vccks. I'lowcr buds and i~~llorcsccnces ap- ~)C;IIW~ 'I'l~chc \\.c~-c l i~l lo\vctl 1)s I'ruit p r o d ~ ~ c ~ i o i ~ 011 fcnlalc plants ;~rorlnd Intc July ;~nd'cnrIy Aug~~st.?'hc fruits

'

ripc11 I'1o111 S q ~ t c ~ ~ ~ I ) c r ~I.OLI~II Oc~to1)c~. 'I'Iw x r i ; ~ I vcgstatio~l ilics h:\ck arourld No\lc~nhcr ;~nd Ucccmber which .

AI I'lowcring. cad1 ~I;IIII \ws i10out 450cm t;rll and h;d produced two typcs of aerial shoot: an ascending. 1 Ic:~f'y slloo~ m d ;I Ic;rl.'lcss c;~l) inct-gro\\~i~lg one. 'fl ic I;~ltcr has rwo swoller~ primordia at regular intervals nud . , '

ol'tcn roots to prod~rcd bl~oors. 011 the other hand. the ascentli~lg Icafy shoots f i~i lct l to initialc roots at the i ~~o i l ca \vlic~~.l;~ycl-cd irn(o 11ic soil. 'l'lic production o f both male and fcn~nlc inllorcscenccs was restricted to'the ' i .. 1~s;rl ~)osi~icm o l ' ~ i ~ q h r ~ t ;II poutld lcvcl (I:ig. 2). '1'11~ nunher ol'Ilo\vcr~s pa. inllorcsc.wcc wnsarounJ40- 100 .

or1 ~ l i c avcr;~gc. Most ol' tllc llo\)/ers spotted nbor~etl atid this probi~bly afl'cctcd fruit production. 'The fruit- . J I w x i ~ y plants nvrc l i )u~i t l 10 possess dccp-sc;~tcd elong;~ted tubcrs ;it variou; stngcs of decay. At the onset of' 1

, rhc dry senson w h c ~ ~lic'vincs bec;tn~e almost leafless, thc tubers had decayed con~pletely, and the vines were i Iicld in posit ion i11id sust;~i~ictl by ndventitious ~.oots. Thcre wcr.c Iiowever sornc r~riattached young and intact

. I , tuhcrs I x ~ r i n g aclvcn~itious buds aruurid llic plnnts. 'l'licsc prob;~hly \\lcrc il ic ones h a t sprouted at the' ':. ! beginning 01' 11ic rlcsl gron ing sc:~son. :I ;: 1

. - It %!

,Thr stcm + 11, c w r t r r i r r \ i i is :I c.'li1110i11~ villts wilh ;I sl~wdcr WIN^^ ~ ~ C I I I 2~111 - JCI I I i l l girl11 :111~1 ;11)0111 4.5Oc11l in height

gnwinp writs;~lly ;111d q ) I ~ ) o ~ ~ ' I ~ d 1))' o1I1cr vil~cs. 'I'IIc slciii WIS cylindric;~I w i ~ h IC;IVCS arrangcd nlrcrnntely. Inlerrlt)dca O C ~ ~ ~ I ~ I U I ;I[ ;bout 4.5 . - 17.5c.111 ~ I ; I C ~ ; I I S . OI~CI . p;1r1s oS111c SICIN ;1rc brown \\$ilc younger p;rrts are p e h oln.ioi~sly c.onl;~i~~inp cl~loropl~yll lor ~~llo~osylltlicsis. 'I'llcrc ;IIT d a r k , I - U S I ~ and bristly ~riclion~cs on ~ h c , a n ) , \\Ilcn dry. i~ i s I I ; I I . C I ;md l)ri[tlc.

l i \ ~ l \ i ~ i ; ~ . \'c*li;~lio~~ is ;~cti~loclro~i~olts, will1 thrcc or niorc prin~ary vcinsoriginati~ig Sro111 thc baseof the lamina and I I I I I I I ~ I I J ! 0 1 1 1 I O \ V ; I I . ~ I ~ I I I C 1ii;1rgi11. ~'rinci~al vcinsarc 5 , ncrvcd in pilliiacc or digin;itc a~ron~ement.

'I'l~c Ici~vca I I : I \ , C ~ I I I c ~ ~ r i ~ , c 111argin wit11 a n ac i~~~i i t~; t tc ;tpcx m19 :I cIiorCI;~~e 1 x 1 ~ . 'l'hcy Iiavc ;I dorsivcntral SIII I xc . \ c ~ y tlcnxly pul,c.scc~i~ on both sides. 'l'llc vc~itr;~l surfi~cc is dark grccr~ wliilc the dorsal surl'ace is greyish ~ I C C I ~ . 'l'tic hairs ;~rc dark, rusty irrid bristly wliilc thc leaves arc Ihin, ~ o u g l ~ i111d brittle when,dry. ' ,

'I'lir 1lon.cr . . 11. cwrrrrrrirr.sii is tlicwcious and the hairy raccrncs arc up to 7.5cm lolng on n hniry rachis. The fldwers are

green it1 colour. I:c~~ialc I'lo\vcrs of D. cunrnrimii (Figs. 213 and 3) are composed of 3 - 6 carpels. with bracts thiit i1l.c tlccitluor~s i n Truit. 'Shcrc are 5 scpals, whilc pctals arc complercly absent. The flowers held by n pedicel are crcnstlc'tl ; \ I 111c I I ~ ~ C I . 1x11 I O I ' I I I C si~iiplc raccmc. In tnnlc Ilowcrs (Fig. 2A), pctnls iirc also absent and inner sepals arc in~l)rici~lc. 'l'l~c Ilowcra ;11.c solitary on t l~c axis nf rIlc~r;~ccnic. 'l'he stnnlcns arc united in a hemispherical ,,

~rc;~tnlcn~ bcli)~c sowing. ::crn~in:~tion d s o occurred 3 n1011tIis i ~ f t ~ ~ . sowing. Thc ot1ic1- seeds gcrminatedat ,.

All the scctls used i n ~ h c socvnd cxpcrinlcnl which involvcd D. crr~rit~~irnii scccls given the following :

prctrc;~tn~cnts: soaking overnight in w;lrnl water; soaking overnight in warni water plus scnrificntion; sohking b..

o\.ct night i i i 0.5% pol;~ssiuin pcrln:liiganalc; sonking ovcriiigllt in 0.25% p~>otassiuni i~it~xte: soaking overnight :., iu cth;~nditrl and soaking oucrnight in concentralcd 1 I,SO, a1 3 tinic intervals of 12.24 and 48 hours, failed to I

I<csults ~ h t i ~ i ~ ~ c t l at ~lic cspir:~~iori ol'thc third cxpcri~ncnt wllcrc sceds.wcrc prccrcnlctl i n GA, at 5 concen- ,! . . ~r;~r io~ls viz: 0.05. 0.3. 0.5. 0.75 and 1%. 6 months ilflcr sowing are shown in Ti~hlc 2 and 3. 'The earliest '; gc~-rnin;~ticm l x x i d 01'0.3 ;1nt1 02 thys was recurded alnollg the sccds'pre-trcatctl in 1% CiA, for the seeds sown : ,

;~tnonp tllc ~cccls'~)rc-trc;~iitl in 0.25 and 0.5 GA, and sown in slcrilizcd river s:~nd. Ilowcver, there was no. j , s1;rtislic;d diflkrcncc I ) c~ \vcc~~ ~ h c nunibcrs of seccls that gcrniinatctl for the tlifl'crcnt prc-trcatmen~s in all .the i

A s~~l,slratcs ;IS indic;ltc'tl by the chi squ;Irc veluc (XL-2.1.1 (rice IluskJ and X 2 = 3.32 1rivcrsondl; not signifi&t). ' .

I:or 11,c runnrr cllltinp. ~ w l i n g was rccordcd wilhiti 15 lo 27 days and plsnrs becameestablished produc- i ~ ~ g 11c.w slioots \v i th in 35 thys. Of tlic four growth regulations uscd, 2. 4-D was inhibitory to root go&h and c s ~ ; ~ h l i s l i ~ ~ w ~ ~ ~ ;I[ ritlicr co~icc~~tr;~tion. 'I'lic other tllrcc rcg~~l;~tions giwe better cstoblishrnent than control and ; i n cvc~y c;~sc. tllc I~igl~cr C O I I C ~ I I I ~ ; I I ~ O I I (2 mgl I) ~ I I ~ U C C C I grc;~tcr root puduction t11;111 I I I C lower one (1 mgl-I), , tl~ouyli 1111. tliflkrc~icc \V;IS snli~ll. Diffcrcnces bctwccn IAA, 113A and NAA were t.clalively small although overall. NAA p v c t l~c I)cst results ('lhblc4).

I mgl 10 6 6 0 . 10 8 '111g 1 I 8) , . I

I)ISCIJSSION ?. I n its n;itur;~l C I ~ V ~ I . ~ I ~ I I ~ C I I I , V. c l ~ r t ~ n ~ i ~ l ~ i i S C C ~ S ;ind tubers gernlinatc at thc onset of the rains between late : '

4 M;ucli ; I I ~ hilily. 1&1.it.s ripc11 froni Scptcnihcr tliro~~yli October before fruit drop or collecticn. The aerial !, \,cgct;~tio~i gics 1);lc.k at thc on-set of the dry senson 'l'llis give+ the seeds ilbout 4 to 6 months at the minimum ;/

.* i l l lhcl soil I ~ c I . o ~ c r g ~ t ~ t ~ ~ i t ~ ; ~ l i c ~ ~ i . (;c~'nli~l;~Iio~l l l i v ~ ~ l ' o ~ ~ , it1 lliis pI:1111 is II :IIII~:III~ 1 i r o 1 1 ~ 1 ~ d - I I : I~I I~CS own ctldo\~- ::: i -

nlcllt. . >

i l'lic 11;ltrlr;ll I l i ~ l ) i t i ~ t ofthis I h ~ i ~ is n humid iind lie:~vily sliatled understorey of closed vegetation. Penetd !! t i o ~ ~ of light i n such 101wstr is ~ ~ s ~ ~ i d l y poor a~idyeliltive humidity illways higli I t is tl~emfwe not surprising that I;

F wllcn csposctl to t i l l l s~~nliglit 11s i n thc Botanical gnrdcn of University of Nigeria, Nsukkn, seedlings failed to i: I tl~rivc \vcll since in their n;~tur;d habitat tiicy sccm to be protected fro111 full sunlight. Also I). cnrr~ruirrsii plan($ i;,:

I

(lo not occu~- ~- ;~~i t lo~nly cxccpt i n some forcsts. One might t!lercli)rc suggest th;r(~the plant thrives in specific soil types. '1'11~-sc poi~its iiccd usgc11t elucidation bcforc n commercial undcnaking could'bc cmbarked upon; (:;

'l'ls. rrrd 0 1 1 ) . I Y I I M I ~ I I Y ~ ~ is ~~ii idc U P ol ' l l l~ clilbryo c1i~Iosct1 wilbin :I rulllili:~tc C I ~ ~ D S ~ C T ~ and covered by;;,: ;I I I ; I I ~ 01 r1011y XUI C O A I . r t ~ uct~~~,aIly ~mrkcd by to~~g l , l~;~ir-likc processes. 1~1'1'011~ to ls;~cilitatc gcrmi~iiition in::*!

b.? 1 this plan^ using scvrul ~ ~ ~ - I I . C : I ~ I I ~ C I I I S were not vcry succ;essful. Although I lollo\\e;~y (1977) reported lOOF,;-,,. . . i :, Z '

JW~IRI~NCJIB .4

A I ~ I ~ I / ~ I . (1.S \ I , , U / o . :LO. i 111d Okal'or. J.C. (1080). New ~ c d i n i e p ~ c s for 111c propagation of scrcndipity berr l ~ i o . ~ ~ ~ o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l r ~ / l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (w~t~~ti~r.\i l . I'rocr~di~rg~ ofdw Ni~qcriorr //or/i1:111111rd Socic/y I .