Leaf colour patterns, vegetative and sexual reproduction of Episcia ...

describes the fruit of Episcia as more or less a capsule, which dehisces loculicidally. The convex
valves form a cup, which holds seeds with prominent funculi.
Supposedly, the seeds are either dispersed by wind or rain or they just drop to the ground.
Figure 28 Episcia lilacina; left: fruit after 25 days development; right: cross-section of one fruit with reddish
seeds.
Fruit Set
The result of a successful pollination is the development of fruits and seeds. The amount of
the developed fruits gives information about the “reproduction effectiveness”. The fruit set was
calculated by the number of developed fruits per 100 flowers.
Materials and Methods: In total, 141 flowers were under observation. Two days after the
end of anthesis it could be clearly determined if a successful pollination had taken place and if
thus fruit development had begun. In case of a failed pollination the rest of the flower, which
initially remained after the dropping of the corolla, decayed in the course of a few days. A
premature dropping of fruits was not observed. However, the observation of the fruit
development to ripeness could not be completed, because the stay in Costa Rica was too short.
Fruit set was calculated by the following formula:
fruit set =
developed fruits
100 flowers
Results: 27 fruits developed from 141 flowers. That is 19 fruits per 100 flowers, i.e. the fruit
set is 19%.
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