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Introduction of Drought Tolerant Succulents Suitable for Urban Landscaping
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Sahar Mirzaei *   , Morteza Khosh-Khui , Mona Dastoory |
| Ornamental Plants Research Center, Horticultural Sciences Research Institute |
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Abstract: (4572 Views) |
| Drought is the most important abiotic factor that limits at least 25% of production of world fields. The quantity and quality of plant growth depend on cell division, enlargement and differentiation and all of these factors may be affected by water stress. Also, different plant compounds are strongly influenced by different environmental conditions. The present study was carried out in Eram Botanical Garden Research Center to investigate the degree of drought tolerance in succulents (Crassula portulacaria, Echeveria elegans, Kalanchoe laxiflora, Echeveria affinis) by measuring morphological and physiological characters (amount of chlorophyll, proline, electrical conductivity, wet weight of shoot and root, dry weight of shoot and root) under water deficit conditions. Uniform plants were planted (in 20 cm pots) and kept at open area where they would be finally planted in landscape. Six irrigation intervals (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 days) were applied until the plant soils reached to field capacity for about 2 critical warmest months of June and July in the area. The experiment was conducted as a complete randomized block design with four replications for each treatment. Results showed that water deficit stress decreased shoot and root fresh and dry weights. Proline content, electrical conductivity and total chlorophyll content was significantly increased in all the succulents under the condition of this experiment. In conclusion, a 5 –day irrigation interval resulted in the highest growth and all of the plants in this study were recommended as drought tolerant plants for landscape design. |
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| Keywords: Chlorophyll, Dry weight, Electrolyte leakage, Fresh weight, Proline, Succulent, Water stress |
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Full-Text [PDF 642 kb]
(1145 Downloads)
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Received: 1970/01/1 | Accepted: 2016/10/6 | Published: 2016/10/31
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