Premium
PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY OF BRANCHING PATTERN IN SUGAR MAPLE (ACER SACCHARUM)
Author(s) -
Steingraeber David A.
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.tb13301.x
Subject(s) - maple , biology , shoot , branching (polymer chemistry) , sugar , botany , ramification , aceraceae , saccharum , horticulture , mathematics , combinatorics , biochemistry , materials science , composite material
Branching patterns of leader shoots and lower branches were compared in 15 sugar maple trees. The number of first‐order branches per second‐order branch (R 1:2 ) differed very significantly between leader shoots and lower branches. Values of R 1:2 averaged 6.47 for leaders and 4.06 for lower branches. Stepwise bifurcation ratios between successive higher orders did not differ significantly. The difference in R 1:2 between leader shoots and lower branches within individual trees is the result of developmental‐phenotypic interactions, such that the number of leaf‐bearing shoots per support shoot decreases over time. These results indicate that branching patterns within individual trees are not stationary, as has commonly been claimed.