Premium
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPATIAL PATTERN IN CLONES OF AN AQUATIC PLANT, EICHHORNIA CRASSIPES SOLMS
Author(s) -
Watson Maxine A.,
Cook Craig S.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1982.tb13254.x
Subject(s) - biology , eichhornia crassipes , stolon , hyacinth , meristem , botany , aquatic plant , population , ecology , macrophyte , shoot , paleontology , demography , sociology
The spatial geometry of clonal growth of Eichhornia crassipes , a plant which increases in number by the vegetative production of stolon offshoots (or ramets), was assessed by the use of a vector analysis. Growth of water hyacinth clones was found to be asymmetric, asymmetry increasing with time. The direction of asymmetry was independent of either population density or the position of nearest neighbors. The analysis revealed the importance of geometric relationships within the parental growth axis for determining patterns of clonal spread. Meristem growth and differentiation appear to be controlled so as to maximize clonal growth rate. This contrasts with the patterns observed in rhizomatous terrestrial species in which the control of meristem growth and differentiation appears to result in efficient use of space at the expense of greater increase in clonal size.