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Environmental and Stress Physiology

Water Transport in the Liana Bauhinia fassoglensis (Fabaceae) ¹

Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, Florida 33156, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199

To determine the efficiency of xylem conductance in the liana (woody vine) Bauhinia fassoglensis Kotschy ex Schweinf., we measured hydraulic conductance per unit stem length (measured K_h), leaf-specific conductivity (LSC = K_h/distal leaf area), transpiration rate (E), xylem water potential (), vessel number, and vessel diameter. The measured K_h was 49% (SE = 7%) of the predicted K_h from Poiseuille's law. The mean LSC for unbranched stem segments was 1.10 x 10^–8 square meters per megapascal per second (SE = 0.07). LSCs were much lower (about 0.2) at branch junctions. At midday, with E at 7 x 10^–8 meters per second, the measured drop in was about 0.08 megapascal per meter along the stems and branches and about 0.27 megapascal in going from stem to leaf. In addition, there was a drop of about 0.20 megapascal at branch junctions as predicted by E/LSC. In diurnal measurements leaf never dropped below about –1.2 megapascal. For long (e.g. 16 meters) stems, the predicted mid-day drop in through the xylem transport system might be great enough to have substantial physiological impact.

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