Analysis on the growth strategy of creeping stem inVitex trifolia var.simplicifoliadapting to sand burial

Abstract

Vitex trifolia var. simplicifolia is a good ground cover plant and sand binder for coastal sandy land; it has a high tolerance for salt and drought and, in its natural environment of sand dunes, it is often buried by blowing sand. In these experiments, basis on the stolon length of V. trifolia, the four level of sand burial treatments were set up as no-sand burial, light sand burial (1 / 3 stolon length) , moderate sand burial (2 / 3 stolon length) and severe sand burial (3 / 3 stolon). The different lengths of stolon were buried to two different depth, to half the plant height or to the full plant height, to show how the plant maintained growth under different levels of sand burial. Plant height, lengths of stolon and adventitious roots, the ratio of stolon dry weight (DW) to total DW, and the ratio of shoot and leaf DW to total DW were recorded. Normally, stoloniferous base and middle section of V. trifolia grow slowly, the top of the stolon grew fast. The results showed that during 20d treatments, there was little difference in the growth of stolon from the basal area to the middle section of the