Morphology and Length Correlated in Terminal Flushes of Longleaf Pine Saplings

Abstract

In longleafpine (Pinuspalustris Mill.) saplings growing in southern Mississippi the length of the first or spring flush was significantly correlated with that of the second flush; the correlation of length between flushes two and three was also statistically significant. The correlations were due more to similarities in internode elongation than to node number. Flush length was closely correlated with number of nodes and with internode elongation in the second and third flushes. Probably because a severe spring drought in 1963 reduced the growth of only those trees with the greatest growth potential, length of the first flush of that year was correlated with number of nodes but not with internode elongation. During periods of reasonably good growing conditions in the field, variation in node number accounted for almost three times more variation in flush length than did internode elongation. Over a range of annual environments, variation in number of nodes accounted for 47 percent of the variation in length of the spring flush and 74 percent of that of summer flushes. No influence of one flush upon another was detected among the flushes of growth within a growing season. There was, however, a negative correlation between summer growth and spring growth in the following year.

Citation

Allen, R.M.; Scarbrough, N.M. 1970. Morphology and Length Correlated in Terminal Flushes of Longleaf Pine Saplings. Res. Pap. SO-53. New Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station. 20 p.