PARENT SESSION
Thursday, August 10, 1:30-5:00 pm
COS 93 - Plant reproductive ecology
Plantation Room, Cook Convention Center
Presiders: B Molano and R Spigler
Flower bud presence on artificially established pondberry grown under three light regimes.
Hughes, Steven*,1, Lockhart, Brian1, Gardiner, Emile1, Leininger, Theodor1, Hawkins, Tracy1, Hamel, Paul1, Schiff, Nathan1, Wilson, A.1, 1 U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station, Stoneville, MS, USA
ABSTRACT- The ecological life-history of pondberry, an endangered shrub endemic to some bottomland hardwood forests in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, is not well documented. A comprehensive study established to determine the effects of light availability on growth and development of the species provided an opportunity to collect observations on the production of flower buds relative to light availability. Pondberry plants were grown for one year under three light regimes, 70 % , 37 %, and 5 % of available sunlight. Flower buds, which developed on pondberry stems during the preceding months, were counted in February 2006. These counts indicated that light availability and plant gender interacted to influence the number of flower buds produced by artificially established pondberry. Male and female plants receiving 37 % light developed an average of 37 buds per stem. Relative to male and female plants grown under 37 % light, female plants grown under 70 % light showed a 44 % reduction in the number of flower buds produced. Male and female plants that received 5 % available sunlight produced fewer than 1 bud per stem. When analyzed relative to stem length, male plants grown under 37 % light produced about 1 flower bud per 2 cm of stem, 50 % more flower buds than female plants that received 70 % light. These results indicate that flower bud production by pondberry is determined in part by plant gender and available light, and that flower bud production may be substantially reduced under very low levels of light availability.
Key words: Lindera melissifolia, endangered species, light availability