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Effect of defoliation on flower initiation in white clover in summer
Author(s) -
THOMAS R. G.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2494.1981.tb01548.x
Subject(s) - inflorescence , trifolium repens , biology , cultivar , photoperiodism , agronomy , white (mutation) , grassland , horticulture , biochemistry , gene
Flowering behaviour of plants of six cultivars of Trifolium repens (Kent Wild White, Grasslands Huia, S100, Blanca, Olwen and Milkanova) growing in field plots at the Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, was recorded in mid‐July. Half of each plot had been defoliated in early May, the other half in mid‐June. In all cultivars defoliated in May, inflorescence initiation had stopped even though the natural photoperiod at that time was well above the critical daylength for initiation Defoliation in mid‐June had led to a renewal of inflorescence initiation in all cultivars. The results confirm that the stimulatory effect of defoliation on inflorescence initiation in plants that have stopped initiation in long days, which has previously been observed in Grasslands Huia in controlled environments, also occurs in the field and in other cultivars.