Suitability of On-Farm Green Compost for the Production of Baby Leaf Species

This study evaluated, for the first time, the suitability of on-farm green compost (GC) from the fourth range sector for the production, in a controlled environment, of six baby leaf species (radish, lettuce, rocket, chard, sorrel and dill), characterized by short cultivation cycles. The pH and electrical conductivity of potting soil-compost mixtures were affected by the different amounts of GC added to the potting soil. Germination tests on Lactuca sativa seeds indicated no phytotoxic effects when GC was used to prepare aqueous extracts diluted at 50% and 25% (v/v). In the pot experiment, GC was used at four different dosages in the growing medium, inducing different impacts on growth parameters, depending on the species and applied dose. The greatest plant growth responses were determined by using less than 3.5 g of GC in 100 g of potting soil. Significant positive correlations between the dry weights of root and shoot (r = 0.77 **), seedling height (r = 0.51 **) and the number of true leaves number (r = 0.56 **) confirmed the close relationship between the root system biomass and the growth parameters of aboveground organs. The study highlights that on-farm green compost, used as partial growing substrate, provides a good opportunity to obtain baby leaf species with well-developed root systems.

PHYTODIVERSITY AND ECOLOGICAL FEATURES OF WEED SPECIES OF SUFAID SUNG, PESHAWAR

Field surveys were carried out to assess the phytodiversity, phenology, leaf size, leaf shape, life form and ethnobotany of weed flora of village Sufaid Sung, Peshawar from March 2017 to June 2019. Overall, 95 species have been reported associated with 31 families. Dominant families were Poaceae (22 species), Asteraceae (10 species) followed by Amaranthaceae and Papilionaceae (6 species each), Brassicaceae and Polygonaceae (5 species each), Euphorbiaceae and Solanaceae (4 species), Apiaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cyperaceae, Malvaceae and Verbenaceae added 2 species, Chenopodiaceae and Convolvulaceae contributed 3 species, Apiaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cyperaceae, Malvaceae and Verbenaceae added 2 species while the rest of 16 families contributed a single species each. The dominant life form was therophytes (76 species) followed by hemicryptophytes (11 species) and geophytes (8 species). Leaf size of the flora showed that the most dominant leaf size class was mesophyll (38 species) followed by macrophyll and microphyll (18 species each), nanopohyll (15 species) and leptophyll (5 species) while a single aphyllous. Simple leaf species were 68 while 26 species had dissected leaves. This study shows a detailed phytodiversical situation of weeds that may be important as reference work for future ethnobotanical, ecological, weed management and conservational studies.

Revision of Begonia (Begoniaceae) in Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park, Southern Vietnam, including two new species

The Begonia species occurring in Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park (Lam Dong Province, southern Vietnam) are reviewed based on recent floristic field surveys. Five species were recognized from the montane forests, and two of which are new to science. The new species belong to Begonia sect. Platycentrum and are named as B. hongiaoensis C.W.Lin, T.C.Hsu & Luu and B. lamdongiana C.W.Lin, T.C.Hsu & Luu, repectively. Begonia hongiaoensis most closely resembles B. siamensis Gagnep from northern Thailand. Both species have a rhizomatous habit and bear ovate leaves. However, the new species differs by its stoloniferous habit, shallowly cordate leaf base and 5-tepaled pistillate flowers. Begonia lamdongiana is similar to B. coelocentroides Y.M.Shui & Z.D.Wei, a hairy leaf species of the same section in Yunnan of China, but is markedly distinct in its glabrous petioles, inflorescences, pedicels and ovaries, and larger bracts.

Transformation of Salicylic Acid and Its Distribution in Tea Plants (Camellia sinensis) at the Tissue and Subcellular Levels

Salicylic acid (SA) is a well-known immune-related hormone that has been well studied in model plants. However, less attention has been paid to the presence of SA and its derivatives in economic plants, such as tea plants (Camellia sinensis). This study showed that tea plants were rich in SA and responded differently to different pathogens. Feeding experiments in tea tissues further confirmed the transformation of SA into salicylic acid 2-O-β-glucoside (SAG) and methyl salicylate. Nonaqueous fractionation techniques confirmed that SA and SAG were mostly distributed in the cytosol of tea leaves, consistent with distributions in other plant species. Furthermore, the stem epidermis contained more SA than the stem core both in C. sinensis cv. “Jinxuan” (small-leaf species) and “Yinghong No. 9” (large-leaf species). Compared with cv. “Yinghong No. 9”, cv. “Jinxuan” contained more SAG in the stem epidermis, which might explain its lower incidence rate of wilt disease. This information will improve understanding of SA occurrence in tea plants and provide a basis for investigating the relationship between SA and disease resistance in tea plants.

New leaf species from the upper Miocene flora of the leaf-bearing Wischgrund clay (Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany)

This is a brief outline of the fossil content of the Wischgrund leaf-bearing clay (Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg State, Germany), which belongs to the youngest Neogene layers of Lower Lusatia (upper Miocene, Tortonian). It is a deciduous temperate flora, with a small proportion of evergreen species. The reconstructed vegetation can be assigned to an azonal swamp forest with Taxodium and a riparian forest with Liquidambar and Acer as the most frequent species. Furthermore, a zonal Mixed Mesophytic Forest characterized by Quercus and Fagus is proposed in upland positions. The flora consists of 78 species of leaves, 51 carpological species and 82 palynological groups. The climate belongs to Cfa-type according to Köppen. Two new species of leaves are described from there, Pyracantha pseudococcinea sp. nov. and Ternstroemites klettwitzensis sp. nov.