AOBPreview published online on January 16, 2003
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcg044
© 2003 by Annals of Botany Company
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Submitted on July 25, 2002
Affiliation of the authors:
1 Botanique et Bioinformatique de l'Architecture des Plantes, UMR 5120 CNRS, TA40/PS2, Boulevard de la Lironde, 34398 Montpellier, France;
2 Plant Biomechanics Group, Institute for Biology II, Botanical Garden of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Schanzlestrasse 1, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sandrine.isnard{at}cirad.fr.
Clematis flammula var. maritima is a woody lianoid plant that grows on coastal sand dunes in the Mediterranean region. Older perennial stems are present as extensive underground axes. These generate surface growth of shorter-lived stems producing monospecific trellises above the surface of the sand. Despite its sand dune habitat and shortage of host support plants, this variety of Clematis shows mechanical characteristics during growth that are closely comparable with those of scandent woody lianas. A significant decrease in the value of structural Young's modulus is observed from the aerial trellis-forming shoots (1·619 ± 0·492 GN m-2) to emergent axes (0·855 ± 0·253 GN m-2) and underground woody stems (0·470 ± 0·113 GN m-2). Biomechanical and evelopmental observations indicate that most emergent branches are optimized geometrically and mechanically in relation to their points of emergence from the sand, with increases in structural Young's modulus and the second moment of area around the surface of the sand. Lianoid plants, physiologically capable of withstanding sand dune environments, might represent acceptable natural or introduced species for dune stabilization and conservation.
Revised on September 27, 2002
Accepted on November 15, 2002
Growth Habit and Mechanical Architecture of the Sand Dune-adapted Climber Clematis flammula var. maritima L
SANDRINE ISNARD1*,
Key words: Biomechanics, Clematis flammula var. maritima L., growth habit, liana, sand dune.
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