Clonal growth and reproductive strategies of the understory tropical palm Geonoma brevispatha: an ontogenetic approach

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre F Souza ◽  
Fernando R Martins ◽  
Luis Carlos Bernacci

We investigated the patterns of growth and reproduction of the understory clonal palm Geonoma brevispatha based on the identification of post-germinative ontogenetic stages, over a 3-year period. Genets were monitored in 100 5 × 5 m plots and 100 2 × 2 m subplots, in a 1-ha area of swamp forest in São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil. Ramets pass through four ontogenetic stages (bifid-leafed juveniles, pinnatifid-leafed stemless immatures, stemmed nonreproductive virgins, and reproducers). Leaf size, leaf number, and leaf production rate increased during ontogeny, but diameter growth rate was higher among immatures. Stem length, number of nodes, and leaf rachis length were positively correlated across ontogenetic stages, but crown height was smaller than stem length in adult palms because of frequent leaning. Leaf number and sexual fecundity increased with ramet size, but declined in larger, senescent ramets. Clonal fecundity preceded sexual fecundity, and sexual and clonal fecundity increased continuously with genet size. No relationship was found between sexual and clonal fecundity. Growth and survival strategies of G. brevispatha were consistent with the patterns found in other tropical clonal palm species. Sexual fecundity and cloning seem to be two integrated processes favored by environmental conditions that also support the growth of existing ramets.Key words: stage-structured populations, ontogenetic stages, swamp forest, Brazil, Atlantic forest, senescence.

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (9) ◽  
pp. 1227-1237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre F Souza ◽  
Fernando R Martins ◽  
Dalva M Silva Matos

A study of the ontogenetic stages of the acaulescent palm Attalea humilis Mart. ex. Spreng was conducted in three fragments (1.6, 6.4, and 9.9 ha) of the Atlantic forest in southeastern Brazil. The fragments were damaged by fire during the study period (1996-1999). External macromorphology and quantitative measures of leaf number and length of the newest leaf's rachis allowed the distinction of five ontogenetic stages. Seedlings were attached to buried fruit remains and presented entire leaves. Juveniles possessed incomplete segmentation of the blade. Pinnatifid-leafed, non-reproducing individuals were morphometrically divided in two groups: immature, with fewer leaves and smaller but highly variable youngest leaf length, and virginile, with more and larger leaves, but more constant youngest leaf length; the critical crown size by which immature and virginile stages could be identified varied according to fragment and year. Reproductive palms bore identifiable reproductive structures. Seedlings, juveniles, and immatures had fewer leaves than virginile and reproductive individuals. Leaf length was similar between seedlings and juveniles but increased in later stages. The characteristics of each stage were fairly constant throughout the study years in the three fragments and were little affected by fire, indicating that the stages we define in this study are important in the developmental program of A. humilis.Key words: stage-structured populations, ontogenetic stages, forest fragments, fire, leaf size, leaf number.


1996 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-12
Author(s):  
R. Bruce Carle ◽  
J. Brent Loy

The morphology, growth rate and anatomy of the fused vein trait were characterized in Cucurbita pepo using the inbreds NH2405 (fused vein), NH7210 (moderately fused vein), and NH614 (normal). Morphological analysis showed that the trait is characterized by a partial fusion of the five primary leaf veins. Fusion begins at the distal point of the petiole and extends along the central vein. Branching of the veins is delayed and there is a reduction of the interveinal leaf blade. Consequently, the upper leaf surface appears puckered or wrinkled. Depending on genetic background, the onset of fused vein leaf production starts at the fourth to tenth leaf stage and continues throughout vegetative growth. The extent of fusion increases with leaf number but stabilizes by the twentieth leaf stage maximum extent of vein fusion also varies with genetic background (5-20 cm). Though fused vein and normal inbreds differed in the rate and pattern of leaf growth, examination of F2 and BC populations revealed no significant effect of the fused vein trait on leaf number, leaf size, and rate of leaf initiation. Anatomical examination revealed different vascular patterns in the transition zone between petiole and leaf blade for normal and fused vein leaves. In normal leaves, the vascular bundles of the petiole enlarge and coalesce to form a vascular crescent. The crescent reorganizes and diverges as large vascular columns and pairs of smaller flanking vascular bundles into each vein. In contrast, two cycles of enlargement, coalescence, and dispersal occur in fused vein leaves.


HortScience ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-320
Author(s):  
J.L. Townshend

The effects of temperature and root-lesion nematodes [Pratylenchus penetrans (Cobb)] on the growth of newly germinated `Bartlett' pear seedlings (Pyrus communis L.) were examined. At five temperatures from 10 to 30C, P. penetrans (five per gram of soil) did not purple the leaves. After 8 weeks, leaf number, trunk height, and top and root weights were reduced only at 25C. The number of P. penetrans in the roots were greatest at 15 and 20C. At 20C, P. penetrans (16 per gram of soil) caused the leaves of seedlings to turn purple, and, by 6 weeks after treatment, the nematodes had reduced leaf production, trunk elongation, and top and root growth.


AoB Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiphaine Vidal ◽  
Hafssa Aissaoui ◽  
Sabrina Rehali ◽  
Bruno Andrieu

Abstract Simulating leaf development from initiation to maturity opens new possibilities to model plant–environment interactions and the plasticity of plant architecture. This study analyses the dynamics of leaf production and extension along a maize (Zea mays) shoot to assess important modelling choices. Maize plants from two cultivars originating from the same inbred line, yet differing in the length of mature leaves were used in this study. We characterised the dynamics of the blade and sheath lengths of all phytomers by dissecting plants every 2–3 days. We analysed how differences in leaf size were built up and we examined the coordination between the emergence of organs and phases of their extension. Leaf extension rates were higher in the cultivar with longer leaves than in the cultivar with shorter leaves; no differences were found in other aspects. We found that (i) first post-embryonic leaves were initiated at a markedly higher rate than upper leaves; (ii) below ear position, sheaths were initiated at a time intermediate between tip emergence and appearance, while above the ear position, sheaths were initiated at a high rate, such that the time interval between the blade and sheath initiations decreased for these leaves; and (iii) ear position also marked a change in the correlation in size between successive phytomers with little correlation of size between upper and lower leaves. Our results identified leaf extension rate as the reason for the difference in size between the two cultivars. The two cultivars shared the same pattern for the timing of initiation events, which was more complex than previously thought. The differences described here may explain some inaccuracies reported in functional-structural plant models. We speculate that genotypic variation in behaviour for leaf and sheath initiation exists, which has been little documented in former studies.


1982 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 969-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
PATRICIA S. HOLLOWAY ◽  
ROBERT M. VAN VELDHUIZEN ◽  
CECIL STUSHNOFF ◽  
DAVID K. WILDUNG

Vegetative growth of lingonberries was observed on plants growing in four unsterilized, native-Alaskan substrates: coarsely-ground Lemeta peat, Fairbanks silt loam soil, a mixture of peat and silt loam soil and washed Chena very fine sandy loam soil. Following three growing seasons, plants in the peat treatment showed the greatest increase in vegetative growth as revealed by the number of new stems produced, stem length and dry weight per plant. Leaf size did not differ among substrate treatments. The leaves on plants grown in the peat substrate remained green throughout the entire experiment. The leaves of plants in all other treatments showed varying degrees of chlorosis followed by reddening and necrosis. Differences in concentration of N, P, K, Mn, Fe, Zn and Al in whole-plant tissue samples were recorded. The results indicate lingonberries should be grown in a peat substrate for maximum growth and dry matter accumulation.


HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (11) ◽  
pp. 1618-1628
Author(s):  
Yanjun Guo ◽  
Terri Starman ◽  
Charles Hall

The objective was to determine the effect of substrate moisture content (SMC) during poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) greenhouse production on plant quality, postproduction longevity, and economic value. Two experiments were conducted, one in 2016 with ‘Freedom Red’ and the other in 2017 with ‘Christmas Eve Red’. Treatments included two SMC levels (20% or 40%) applied in four timing of application combinations. Total production (TP) time was 14 (2016) or 12 (2017) weeks in which vegetative production (VP) occurred from week 33 (2016) or 35 (2017) to week 39 and reproductive production (RP) continued from week 40 to 47. The four timing of application treatments were 40/40 = TP at 40% SMC; 20/40 = VP at 20% + RP at 40%; 40/20 = VP at 40% + RP at 20%; 20/20 = TP at 20% SMC. After simulated shipping in the dark, plants were evaluated in a simulated retail environment with two packaging treatments: no sleeve covering or plastic perforated plant sleeves covering container and plant. At the end of greenhouse production, plants grown in 20% SMC during RP (20/20 and 40/20) had shorter bract internode length, stem length, and smaller growth index (GI), decreased shoot and root dry weight (DW), and bract and leaf surface area compared with those in 40% SMC during RP (40/40 and 20/40). Photosynthetic rate was higher when plants were watered at 40% SMC regardless of production stage compared with those in 20% SMC. Leaf thickness, petiole thickness, total bract and leaf number were unaffected by SMC treatments. Plants in 20% SMC during RP (20/20 or 40/20) had earlier bract coloring despite days to anthesis being the same for all SMC treatments. Compared with 40/40, 40/20, and 20/20 could save 44.2% or 43.6%, respectively, irrigation and fertilizer usage, and 39.1% and 47.8%, respectively, labor time. During postharvest, ethylene concentration was unaffected by packaging method. Sleeved plants, regardless of SMC treatment, received lower light intensity in the middle of the plant canopy, causing plants to have lower total leaf number due to abscission and SPAD reading at the end of postproduction. The 40/40 treatment abscised more bracts during five weeks (in 2016) of postproduction and with no sleeve had higher number of bracts with bract edge burn (BEB). In summary, reducing SMC to 20% during TP or RP reduced water usage during production and produced more compact plants with increased postproduction quality.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunyao Dun ◽  
Wan Songsheng ◽  
Li Shuanglong ◽  
Wu Daikun

The effects of accumulated temperature on the growth curve and leaf number growth curve of Gynostemma pentaphyllum were studied. The growth curve of twigs and strands were studied by curve regression analysis. The results showed that the growth of Gynostemma pentaphyllum Leaf growth curve was optimized, and the growth curve of stem and leaf of Gynostemma pentaphyllum was established, and the curve was fitted and analyzed. Three - dimensional model of the effect of accumulated temperature on the stem length and leaf number of Gynostemma pentaphyllum . The results show that the stem length L and the accumulated temperature t of the strands are in the logistic function, the mathematical model was L=-112.69/(1+(t/892.1) 3.31 )+130.54, the number of gibbere leaf number n is logistic function with the accumulated temperature t, The model was n=-27.86/(1+(t/1159.77) 0.26 )+30.37, and the growth model could reflect the dynamic growth of Gynostemma pentaphyllum growth. The experimental results provide a theoretical basis for choosing suitable habitat for Gynostemma pentaphyllum under the forest.


AoB Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Sun ◽  
Mantang Wang ◽  
Min Lyu ◽  
Karl J Niklas ◽  
Quanlin Zhong ◽  
...  

Abstract The trade-off between leaf number and individual leaf size on current-year shoots (twigs) is crucial to light interception and thus net carbon gain. However, a theoretical basis for understanding this trade-off remains elusive. Here, we argue that this trade-off emerges directly from the relationship between annual growth in leaf and stem mass, a hypothesis that predicts that maximum individual leaf size (i.e. leaf mass, Mmax, or leaf area, Amax) will scale negatively and isometrically with leafing intensity (i.e. leaf number per unit stem mass, per unit stem volume or per stem cross-sectional area). We tested this hypothesis by analysing the twigs of 64 species inhabiting three different forest communities along an elevation gradient using standardized major axis (SMA) analyses. Across species, maximum individual leaf size (Mmax, Amax) scaled isometrically with respect to leafing intensity; the scaling constants between maximum leaf size and leafing intensity (based on stem cross-sectional area) differed significantly among the three forests. Therefore, our hypothesis successfully predicts a scaling relationship between maximum individual leaf size and leafing intensity, and provides a general explanation for the leaf size-number trade-off as a consequence of mechanical-hydraulic constraints on stem and leaf growth per year.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 779-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
PABLO FORLAN VARGAS ◽  
ERIC WATZKE ENGELKING ◽  
LUIS CARLOS FERREIRA DE ALMEIDA ◽  
ELIEL ALVES FERREIRA ◽  
HAMILTON CESAR DE OLIVERIA CHARLO

ABSTRACT The genetic variability within the crop species Ipomoea batatas is broad, hence, in order to support future breeding programs it is of the utmost importance that germplasm banks be created, conserved, and characterized. Therefore, the objective of this work was to rescue and evaluate the genetic divergence in sweet potato accessions collected in traditional communities of Vale do Ribeira Paulista. Sweet potato samples were collected from quilombos, indigenous villages, caiçaras communities, and small farms. The study was conducted between February 2013 and August 2014 in a randomized block design with three replications. Genetic material included 95 collected accessions and two commercial cultivars. Morphological characteristics of the accessions were evaluated and distances in the genetic distance matrix were estimated by means of multi-category variables, the data being subsequently clustered by the Tocher method. Analysis of the relative contribution of each characteristic and phenotypic correlation of descriptors was also performed. Results evidenced wide genetic diversity among the sweet potato accessions collected in Vale do Ribeira, which were not grouped according to the collection point. The descriptors that contributed more than 60% of genetic diversity included: leaf size, general leaf profile, immature leaf color, petiole pigmentation, predominant branch color, branch secondary color, stem length, cortical thickness, predominant periderm color, and periderm color intensity. Correlations between morphological descriptors was observed in 22.26% of the paired traits.


2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Paula Balcázar-Vargas ◽  
Tinde R. van Andel ◽  
Paul Westers ◽  
Pieter A. Zuidema

Abstract:Secondary hemiepiphytes rely on other plants (hosts) to grow vertically. After germinating on the forest floor, their seedlings search a host to ascend. We recorded information on survival, growth, reproduction and vegetative propagation of three Heteropsis species, to evaluate what drives their vital rates. We measured 700 individuals of each study species between 2007 and 2009 in the southern Colombian Amazon. A gradual increase in stem length, leaf size, number of roots and plagiotropic branches was found with increasing height of Heteropsis individuals on their hosts. Survival of leafless non-climbing seedlings was very low (28% annually); increasing substantially (84–94%) once the seedling had ascended a host. The three Heteropsis species presented slow height growth rates (c. 2–8 cm y−1) with large variation, while a substantial percentage of the stems (31–62%) did not grow or dried out. Vegetative propagation in Heteropsis may act as a dispersion-propagation strategy to find a suitable host and reach the canopy again after falling. The slow growth rates suggest that Heteropsis individuals that have reached the canopy are rather old. Once plants have reached the tree crowns, their longevity is largely determined by the survival of the host tree.


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