Structural organization of the gynoecium and pollen tube path in Himalayan sea buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides (Elaeagnaceae)

Closure of carpels or angiospermy, a key developmental innovation, has been accomplished through different ontogenic routes among the flowering plants. The mechanism of angiospermy produces structural novelties in the gynoecium, which in turn affects the progamic phase. In this paper, we present the structural details of the gynoecium and functional attributes of the progamic phase of Hippophae rhamnoides, a dioecious species of Elaeagnaceae. The gynoecium is unicarpellate, and the carpel is dorsiventrally symmetric and conduplicate. The pollen tube path comprises a prominent, ventrally localized dry and non-papillate stigma, a pseudostyle and a dorsally protruded superior ovary. The pollen tube path in the stigmatic region is subdermal, and from the pseudostyle onwards, it resides over the epidermis of conduplicated margins. The epidermal cells along this region are secretory but produce sparse extracellular matrix. The tube approaches the solitary ovule through a tiny conduit in the carpel, the ventral pore. The duration of the entire progamic phase is ∼72 h. The observed mean pollen tube length from stigma to ovule was 908.13 ± 180 µm and the mean tube growth rate was 18.75 µm h(−1). The study demonstrates that sea buckthorn, a core eudicot, has a simple gynoecium with a pollen tube pathway that incorporates elements of both completely externalized and internalized compitum.