Abstract
Plasticity is an important attribute that enables plants to maintain fitness in heterogeneous environments. The objective of this study was to investigate plasticity in branch length in Fagopyrum esculentum Moench. Seeds of the species were sown under two contrasting conditions through the manipulation of planting density (inter-planting distances at 20, 15, 10, and 5 cm) and sowing date (25 July, 1 August, 5 August, and 15 August). Allometric analysis of the relationships between branch length and total biomass showed a significant (p < 0.05) departure from isometry. This indicates that branch length increased linearly as a function of size. However, branch length was smaller in the group of plants sown at higher densities and at late sowing dates. True plasticity, which would have been indicated by significant differences in allometric exponents within treatments, was not observed in this study. Our results suggest that the differences observed in branch length were due to the direct effect of size rather than as a result of true plastic investment in branches.
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