Anchoring function of coleorhiza hairs and seedling establishment of surface-sown forage grasses
1997
Morita, O. (Mie Univ., Tsu (Japan). Faculty of Bioresources) | Ehara, H. | Goto, M.
A series of laboratory experiments was carried out to evaluate the inherent anchoring function of coleorhiza hairs of surface-sown forage grasses. The direct-penetration ratio of seminal root (DPR) and the adhering strength of coleorhiza hairs of surface-sown seeds, and number of hairs of germinating seeds in water was examined for fifteen pasture plants, six soiling crops and five native grasses. (1) The grass species examined were classified into three groups according to the DPR and adhering strength of coleorhiza hairs. Group A: Tall fescue, coloured guineagrass, finger millet and native grasses produced over 160 coleorhiza hairs and anchored to the soil surface with adhering strength above 2g, resulting 50% higher of DPR. Orchardgrass and Kentucky bluegrass produced a small number of hairs, and timothy and bermudagrass far less in number and in adhering strength among species examined, but they reached more than 50% of DPR. Group B: Italian and perennial ryegrasses, meadow fescue, green panic and three millets produced 40-110 hairs and showed 0.5-1.5g of adhering strength, DPR being 20-40%. Group C: No coleorhiza hairs in sorghum and rye emerged. So, root-tip penetration of the seedling was achieved by root hair adhesion. (2) DPR of forage grasses increased with increasing its adhering strength of the coleorhiza hairs, and with decreasing its seed size. (3) Based on above results, we concluded that the anchoring function in the species belonging to Group A was more effective than those of Group B, but that of Group C was not fulfilled at all
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