The physiology of flowering and some aspects on the regulation of flowering in peas

The process of flowering involves 4 major stages:-a) the differentiation of floral primordia; b) the differentiation of the individual flower parts; c) floral maturation; and d) anthesis. This review will only be concerned with the first aspect, that of the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth, and of the developments which precede this transition. Since the early review by Lang (140), many reviews dealing with certain aspects of flowering have appeared (24, 25, 50, 52, 65, 74, 154, 155, 171, 187, 197, 198, 201, 209, 224, 245, 247, 252, 261), giving an excellent coverage of the field, and the approach of this review is similar in its presentation to that of Searle (209).