The physiology of growth in Subterranean clover. I. Seedling growth and the pattern of growth at the shoot apex

Abstract

The shoot apex of Trifolium subterraneum L. is spirodistichous, with a divergence angle of 160° and a phyllotaxis index of 2. The vegetative plant is defined quantitatively in terms of lengths of successive leaves, leaf areas, and dry weights of the leaves and all major plant parts for a 29-day growth period. The selected environment gave very high values of net assimilation rate (3 .0 mg cm-2 day-1for early growth). The properties of the shoot apical system are further defined in terms of volumes of meristematic and very young parts. The picture is extended by linking it with fresh weight data for the leaves. To a remarkable extent the data, transformed to logarithms, can be accounted for by arrays of linear regressions on time, the members of which show decreasing slopes with increasing leaf number. However, the most instructive description is obtained from an array of relative growth rate curves for successive leaves. While the existence of one general pattern of leaf growth seems unlikely, there is evidence for a marked increase in relative growth rate during leaf initiation. Exponential growth in length seems to be fairly common in young leaf primordia, but exponential growth in volume occurs in a variety of patterns in different plants. Attempts to link these occurrences with events in vascular differentiation and thus with the supply of substrate for growth have not been successful. It is suggested that properties of the system as a whole may be relevant.