Parasitic plants species of the genus Orobanche produce a very high number of small dust-like seeds. The seed shape of Orobanche sp. is ellipsoid to globose, ca. 0.3 × 0.4 mm. Orobanche picridis F.W. Schultz is a sub-Mediterranean-sub-Atlantic species. It has the NE range limit in Poland and Ukraine. The species is seriously endangered in Poland and neighbouring countries. O. picridis occurs only in southern Poland (34 localities). It prefers habitats on chalky rendzina, especially S-facing. It colonizes abandoned fallows and wastelands, field margins, initial xerothermic grasslands. They are mostly ecotone communities, in semi-ruderal xerothermic pioneer communities belonging to the Dauco-Picridetum (Artemisietea vulgaris class). The aim of this study was to determine potential and real seed productivity in Orobanche picridis and correlations between the characteristics of the shoots. Research hypothesis is to show that the studied traits of shoots show the highest correlation with the production of seeds. The paper presents investigations into potential and real seed productivity of Orobanche picridis for the first time. Investigations were conducted in 2010 at three most abundant localities of O. picridis in southern Poland in the Wyżyna Małopolska upland (S Poland) - Wesołówka (Przedgórze Iłżeckie foreland), Pińczów, and Pęczelice (Niecka Nidziańska basin). Research into the number of seeds produced per fruit and per shoot is discussed. Strict correlations between seed productivity and shoot features, i.e. shoot height, inflorescence length, number of fruits and corolla tube length were observed. The number of seeds in a single ovary in O. picridis varied and ranged from 457 to 3 246. The mean number of seeds per shoot is 55 172 based on the data collected at the three sites and ranges between 8 911 and 151 050. Seed productivity depends significantly on the size of a plant, that is on the shoot height, correlation coefficient r = 0.7, inflorescence length, r = 0.6, number of flowers and fruits per plant, r = 0.6, and on the flower size, r = 0.5.
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