Theme 01: Ecophysiology of Grasslands
Description
Two cultivars of Guinea grass (P. maximum, Jacq.), Mombaça and Tanzânia, were cultivated in five litre pots, as single plants, in a green house. Plants were subjected to three defoliation levels (100, 200 and 400 mm height) for five successive monthly harvests. The experimental design was a 3x2 randomised block with five replicates. Three types of tiller (main, primary and secondary) were selected, at random, on each plant and leaf elongation rate (LER) above cutting height was measured, weekly, between harvests. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in LER between tiller types in cv. Mombaça in all periods, but only in period two in cv. Tanzânia. In the last period tillers were classified, at random, as old (over four months age) mature (between two and four months) and young (between one and two months). Old tillers had a lower (P < 0.05) LER than the other two categories in both cultivars and lower (P < 0.05) SLA (specific leaf area) in Mombaça.
Included in
Effect of Aging in Tillers of Panicum maximum on Leaf Elongation Rate
Two cultivars of Guinea grass (P. maximum, Jacq.), Mombaça and Tanzânia, were cultivated in five litre pots, as single plants, in a green house. Plants were subjected to three defoliation levels (100, 200 and 400 mm height) for five successive monthly harvests. The experimental design was a 3x2 randomised block with five replicates. Three types of tiller (main, primary and secondary) were selected, at random, on each plant and leaf elongation rate (LER) above cutting height was measured, weekly, between harvests. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in LER between tiller types in cv. Mombaça in all periods, but only in period two in cv. Tanzânia. In the last period tillers were classified, at random, as old (over four months age) mature (between two and four months) and young (between one and two months). Old tillers had a lower (P < 0.05) LER than the other two categories in both cultivars and lower (P < 0.05) SLA (specific leaf area) in Mombaça.
