INFtORESCENCE MODIFICATION AND FLORALBIOLOGY OF SOMF COMMIPHORA SrECIES

Abstract

The pr~<;ent paper <;tipulates the inflorescence branching pattep and their. preoJiumed
evolutionary trend, the floral biolo8Y with the Fossible explanation on the evolution of floral sex, 8e¥ual
systems and sex distribution, phenology and pollination mechanics in Commiphora species of NE MdE'
Tropical Africa. It conveys the anrarent trend in the process of inflora<;cence modification. in
Commiphora and draws the phylogenlitic information based on the different patterns of inflorescence
branching mechanisms. Five different types of inflorescence are jdeJ1,tified within the studied species,
with their presumed modification trends. In terms of sex distribution, the majority of the studied
species is found to be d\oedous vis-a--vis hermaphrodite and mOHoedcms and other intermediate forms
verifying out crossing ~ a norm within the group. With regard to evolu.tion of florrusex the
hermaphrodite flower is considered t,o be an ancestral condition giving rise to other forms that finaD.y
has lead to dioecy. Data on phenology has suggested that most species of CommiiJhora (lre active a
year following a bimodal rainfall pRttern of th.e environmerlt inwhich they glow