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THE MORPHOLOGY OF VEGETATIVE REGENERATION IN CALLUNA VULGARIS
Author(s) -
MOHAMED B. F.,
GIMINGHAM C. H.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1970.tb02459.x
Subject(s) - shoot , calluna , overwintering , biology , botany , grazing , herbivore , lateral shoot , growing season , regeneration (biology) , apical dominance , vegetative reproduction , ericaceae , axillary bud , explant culture , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , in vitro
S ummaryCalluna vulgaris , in certain habitats, provides useful grazing for herbivores; management is generally by burning, with the aim of promoting vigorous production of young shoots by vegetative regeneration for the stem base. However, the capacity for such vegetative regeneration declines with age. The general morphology of the plant is described, with particular reference to the sequence of development in a single season's growth and to the stages in resumption of growth after overwintering. On this basis, an interpretation is given of the responses to grazing and burning, with evidence derived from detailed observation of treated plants and from transverse sections of stems. Light grazing at the periphery of the plant causes (i) the growth of a few of the uppermost short shoots into new long shoots, and (ii) the appearance of clusters of shoots from lower, woody, parts of the branches. Heavier or more sustained grazing emphasizes the second of these responses. Vegetative regeneration after burning is also of the second category, confined to undamaged positions near the base of the stem. The clusters of shoots appear at the points of origin of existing or former branches. The conclusion, derived both from morphological observations and from evidence of the deep‐seated origin of these new shoots, is that they are derived from persisting dormant buds on the close‐packed nodes just below the base of each long shoot. These nodes belonged to the overwintering end‐of‐season short shoot from which the long shoot developed.