ANATOMICAL FEATURES FACILITATING SUPERCOOLING OF THE FLOWER WITHIN THE DORMANT PEACH FLOWER BUD

Excision of the flower from the peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.] fl ower bud raised the 50% injury temperature of flowers (cooled at 1C/ho ur) from -18 and -20C to -10 and -13C on two test dates, 26 Feb. 1988 and 5 Dec. 1990, respectively, Ice inoculation of the excised flowers at -3C further raised the 50% injury temperature to -7 and -8C for the two dates, respectively. These observations suggest that supercooling is a true mechanism for avoiding freezing injury. Low temperature sca nning electron microscopy of freeze fractured cells verified that the flower froze intracellularly, whereas the subtending tissue froze extr acellularly. Ice inoculation of the flower and the flower bud axis fro m which the scales were removed demonstrated that a barrier to ice pro pagation (effective to -11C) from the flower bud axis to the flower wa s present. This barrier may involve the provascular strands and a cell zone at the flower base (BZ) that were devoid of intercellular spaces . These tissues also had smaller cells, smaller vacuoles, greater rati o of cell wall thickness to cell size than tissue just below the BZ, w hich may result in greater cell rigidity and restriction of extracellu lar freezing. The cells outside the provascular strands at the base of the flower were also lacking in intercellular space, were smaller in size, and had a higher ratio of cell wall thickness to cell size compa red to cells near the base of the scales. In the intact flower buds in which the flowers supercool below -11C, the presence of the first and second scales was important to full expression of supercooling becaus e their removal raised the supercooling point, whereas the removal of lower scales did not. Sequestration of ice by the first two subtending scales during the early stages of freezing may be important to the cr eation of a dry region at the flower base that prevents ice propagatio n into the flower at temperatures below -11C.