Comparative growth and propagule production byHydrilla verticillata grown from axillary turions or subterranean turions

Abstract

Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle produces two types of vegetative propagules, subterranean turions and axillary turions. After 8 or 12 weeks growth under similar conditions, plants grown from subterranean turions weighed 1.7 to 2 times as much as plants grown from axillary turions. Subterranean turion-derived plants produced more propagules (by weight and number) per plant than plants from axillary turions. Characteristics of weight frequency distributions (median, minimum, maximum, and coefficient of variation) for new subterranean turions were also influenced by the type of propagule from which the parent plant was derived. The number of root crowns per plant which reflects the plant's ability to expand horizontally was significantly greater for subterranean turion-derived plants (by 2 times) than for plants from axillary turions. These results support the hypothesis that following colonization of an area the impact ofHydrilla on resident species changes over time.