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THE DIFFERENTIAL TEMPERATURE RESPONSES OF THE GROWTH OF CERTAIN PLANT SPECIES FROM DIFFERENT ALTITUDES. II. ANALYSES OF THE CONTROL AND MORPHOLOGY OF LEAF EXTENSION AND SPECIFIC LEAF AREA OF PHLEVM BERTOLONII D.C. AND P. ALPINUM L.
Author(s) -
WOODWARD F. I.
Publication year - 1979
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.1469-8137.1979.tb02666.x
Subject(s) - biology , botany , callus , coleoptile , seedling , specific leaf area , interspecific competition , photosynthesis
S ummary Independent temperature control of separate organs of seedling plants of Phleum bertolonii and P. alpinum indicates that the temperature of the first leaf and coleoptile exert the dominant temperature control of specific leaf area (SLA). Rates of leaf extension in the upland species P. alpinum are slower than in the lowland species P. bertolonii. This difference is related in the main to the significantly greater number of cell generations involved in the expansion of the leaf and not to the cell generation time, which does not differ between the species. Experiments with the growth of callus cultures suggest that interspecific differences in the potential for cell growth do not account for the observed differences in leaf extension. In both species the response of SLA to temperature is mainly a consequence of its influence on cell diameter. As a result it is the temperature in the region of cell expansion, within the leaf sheath, that will control SLA.