A Preliminary Investigation on Male Fertility of Azolla Species in Subgenus Rhizosperma

Based on the data from investigation, the fertility of microspore in 3Azolla species belonging to Subgenus Rhizosperma could be divided into 2 groups, In the first group, the microspore is seriously sterile, totally sterile or nearly totally sterile while the microspore in the second group is slightly sterile with a narrow range of variation of total sterility. Moreover, the factors-heredity and environmental condition which affect the fertility of microspore are discussed in this article. In addition, on basis of discovery of mega-microspore, the gamete without meiosis is inferred as one of possible pathway to form Azolla multiploid.