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Life‐history monographs of Japanese plants. 12: Asarum caulescens Maxim. (Aristolochiaceae)
Author(s) -
TAKASU HIDEKI,
KAWANO SHOICHI
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
plant species biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1442-1984
pISSN - 0913-557X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-1984.2009.00236.x
Subject(s) - rhizome , aristolochiaceae , biology , botany , japonica , perennial plant , vegetative reproduction , shoot
The life‐history characteristics of Asarum caulescens Maxim. (Aristolochiaceae) are described here. This typical summer‐green perennial of the Aristolochiaceae is a unique woodland element distributed in central Honshu, that is, south of Fukushima Prefecture to Shikoku and Kyushu, Japan. It grows in the somewhat shady understory of temperate montane deciduous broad‐leaved or mixed forests associated with conifers, such as Cryptomeria japonica and Abies firma . One of the unique features of A. caulescens is its rhizome structures in combination with aerial shoots, which play an important role in vegetative propagation. The perennation strategy of A. caulescens is exceedingly complex, producing various combinations of linear or branched rhizomes bearing different numbers of leaves. Rhizomes consist of two or three segments, each 5 mm to 5 cm long as a unit, connected linearly, but also occasionally branched. At the tip of the newly formed rhizome segment, a single leaf or a pair of cordate leaves are formed. Exceedingly complex branching patterns of the rhizome segments were also recognized, forming ramets in late June to early July. Vegetative propagation by ramet formation obviously plays a very important role in the maintenance of local populations.