Vegetative reproduction in the juvenile phase of Ammophila breviligulata

Abstract

Ammophila breviligulata Fem. was the dominant species with a density of 110 to 150 culms per square metre along Lake Erie shoreline at Rondeau Provincial Park. In the juvenile phase the plants produced underground rhizomes which grew plagiotropically to distances ranging from 129 to 389 cm from the parents and then became orthotropic. The number of nodes on a primary rhizome ranged from 26 to 52 depending on rhizome lengths and each node bore one bud. A small proportion of these buds produced ramets but the rest remained dormant. A chi-square analysis of data showed that leafy shoots occurred in a nonrandom fashion always appearing on the distal end of a primary or secondary rhizome.