Preliminary Study On The Growth Laws, Translocation Patterns And Vascular System Structure Of Zoysia Japonica Steud.

Zoysia japonica Steud. as a widely used lawn grass is a typical clonal plant. Through detailed observations and measurements, we discovered that the growth of Zoysia japonica accord with some strict laws. The secondary stolons showed similar characteristics of growth to the main stolons. The speed of formation of one multiple-node was three days on the main or secondary stolons, but the development of internode needed six to seven days. Thirty percent of the total internode length was developed in the course of the growth of the next multiple-node.On the main stolons, it usually took 3.1, 4.5 and 6.1 days respectively for the root, tiller A and tiller B on the same multiple-node to occur, after the formation of the multiple-node, while on the secondary stolons, 3.2, 4.2 and 7.6 days respectively. The speed of formation of internode, root, Ta and Tb was linear, and they were parallel each other. The developmental time of each ramet was basically same. Ta formed its first multiple-node in about six days after its formation, and then began to form secondary stolons.Average 189 stolons were formed in one growth season outside of the glasshouse (from May 10th to Oct. 2nd). The regression relation between the tiller number and days was a typical exponential function.Illumination was obviously different between the environments outside and inside of the greenhouse. The growth pattern of Zoysia japonica tended to be guerrilla type when growing inside of the greenhouse, whichshowed longer internode length, less stolons and uniform ramets, while in outside, phalanx. The ratio among the biomass of root, stolon and leaf inside and outside was 1: 5.45: 7.35 and 1: 6.45: 7.3, respectively. Coefficient of variation of multiple-node numbers was the highest (35.4%), while the CVs of tillers numbers and stolon length.The difference between the total biomasses of the main and secondary stolons inside and outside was significant, the latter was much larger. The growth behavior of Zoysia japonica showed strong plasticity and foraging trait.Ta usually developed earlier than Tb, thus the biomass of Ta usually was bigger than Tb. The regression relations between the numbers and biomasses of the different modules and the total length of the stolons accorded with the power functions, and showed allometric growth mutually.The speeds of translocation showed no significant differences among the...