FLORAL BIOLOGY OF CLUSTER BEARING AND GYNOECIOUS POPULATION OF SPONGE GOURD (LUFFA CYLINDRICA)

On an average it took 14.00 days for the male buds to develop fully(from the stage visible to the naked eye to the day of opening of the bud).in 25 Gy and 16.00days in Pusa Sneha. Female flowers in both these genotypes developed two to three days earlier than their respective male buds. Singh(1957) observed the development of pistillate flowers 3 to 4 days earlier than the male flowers which required 10-16 days.Corolla diameter of fully opened flowers varied among the genotypes.Male flowers were smaller in Pusa Sneha and larger in VRSG-52-1 and VRSG-522.genotypes VRSG-52-1 and 27Gy had the maximum ovary length of 5.90cm. Incidently these two varieties also had the longest fruit size.