Hostname: page-component-68945f75b7-qvshk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-05T18:38:05.312Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The influence of reproductive development upon the root system of perennial ryegrass and some effects upon herbage production

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

A. Troughton
A. Troughton
Affiliation:
Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The production of flowers in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) has been associated with a reduction in root relative to shoot growth and the post-flowering period with the death of roots. Any effect that reproductive development has upon the root system does not appear to adversely affect subsequent shoot growth. In the present experiments, vernalized plants restricted to root axes present prior to flowering showed little difference in herbage production and length of life compared with unvernalized plants similarly restricted. Flower production did, however, limit the ability of plants to initiate main root axes. It would seem unlikely that the mid-summer depression of herbage growth is due to the effect of reproductive development upon the root system.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 91 , Issue 2 , October 1978 , pp. 427 - 431
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alberda, Th. (1957). The effects of cutting, light intensity and night temperature on growth and soluble carbohydrates of Lolium perenne L. Plant and Soil 8, 199–230.Google Scholar
Brown, E. M. (1943). Seasonal variations in the growth and chemical composition of Kentucky bluegrass. Research Bulletin No. 360, Missouri Agricultural Experimental Station, pp. 56.Google Scholar
Davies, I. (1973). Regrowth characteristics of an S. 23 perennial ryegrass sward defoliated at early stages of reproductive development. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 80, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garwood, E. A. (1967). Seasonal variation in appearance and growth of grass roots. Journal of the British Grassland Society 22, 121–130.Google Scholar
Hackett, C. (1968). A study of the root system of barley. 1. Effects of nutrition on two varieties. New Phytologist 67, 288–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kmoch, H. G., Halfmann, H. H. & Sievers, A. (1958). Jahreszeitliche Entwicklung der Wurzelmasse unter einer Weide in der Kölner Bucht. Zeitschrift für Acker- und Pflanzenbau 105, 121–144.Google Scholar
Makkink, G. F. (1954). De midzomerdepressie van grasland als gevolg van watertekort. Landbouwkundig Tijschrift 66, 17–26.Google Scholar
Skripcinskii, V. V. (1955). [Prolongation of life and function in roots of different types of perennial rye and Agropyron sp.] Doklady Akademii nauk SSSR (Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR) 101, 371–373.Google Scholar
Speeding, C. R. W. (1971). Grassland Ecology, pp. 221. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Stuckey, I. H. (1941). Seasonal growth of grass roots. American Journal of Botany 28, 486–491.Google Scholar
Troughton, A. (1957). The underground organs of herbage grasses. Commonwealth Bureau of Pastures and Field Crops. Bulletin no. 44, pp. 163.Google Scholar
Troughton, A. (1960). Further studies on the relationship between shoot and root systems of grasses. Journal of the British Grassland Society 15, 41–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar