Ontogênese do sistema subterrâneo de Pachyrhizus ahipa (Wedd.) Parodi (Fabaceae)

Abstract

A study on the ontogeny of the underground system of P. ahipa was held with the purpose of understanding both its morphology and its process of tuberization. Samples, collected from the hypocotyl region and from the primary root during different phases of plant development, were processed according to usual technique. The underground system of P. ahipa is composed by both a xylopodium and a tuberous root. The xylopodium is a cylindrical lignified region near the soil and gives rises to new sprouts. Immediately below to this part there is a primary tuberous root, which is predominantly fusiform. The root tuberization results from the activity of a typical vascular cambium and from accessory cambium originated from the parenchyma of the secondary xylem, after the first phase of the usual secondary growth. The xylopodium is of a mixed nature, as it arises from the hypocotyl and from the base of the primary root.