VARIATION IN GROWTH OF SEEDLINGS AND CLONES OF AGROPYRON REPENS (L) BEAUV.

Abstract

Summary. The growth of Agropyron repens seedlings, or of clones derived from them, raised from seeds collected from different areas was compared; the growth of seedlings raised from seeds from single spikes and from seeds of a cross of two clones was also compared.The number and length of shoots and the amount of rhizome produced differed between seedlings from different areas. Seedlings with a large weight of rhizomes often had a small weight of shoots. Many of the differences found between seedlings from different areas were confirmed by comparing clones established from some of them. Comparisons of both seedlings and clones showed that the percentage of shoots that developed spikes differed between genotypes; clones with the least weight of rhizome tended to have most weight of spikes. Large variations also occurred between clones established from seedlings from a given area, particularly in the way their dry weight was partitioned between primary and secondary shoots and in the time the spikes emerged.The amount of rhizome per seedling varied greatly between seedlings from seeds from single spikes and from seeds from a cross of two clones. There was some evidence of a negative correlation between per cent shoot and per cent rhizome dry weight with seedlings from single spikes and between number of shoots and number of rhizomes per seedling with seedlings from a cross of two clones. Variation en croissance de plantules issues de semences et de clones d' Agropyron repens (L) Beauv.