Diurnal Expansion and Contraction of Leaves and Fruits of English Morello Cherry

Changes in leaf thickness and fruit diameter were measured ingrowth chambers under varying conditions of light, humidity,temperature, and soil moisture for potted trees of English Morellocherry (Prunus cerasus L. grafted on Prunus mahaleb root stock).Decrease in leaf thickness of well-watered plants was inducedby illumination following a period of darkness. In the light,leaf thickness decreased when vapour-pressure deficit (VPD)was rising or high. The magnitude of diurnal change in leafthickness was related to amount of change in VPD of the air.Leaf thickness increased in the dark when stomata were closed.When changes in VPD were minimized, leaves under 8-h days and16-h nights still decreased in thickness during the day andexpanded at night, but the degree of change was not as greatas when VPD also fluctuated diurnally. When severe internal water deficits developed in trees duringprolonged droughts the correlations of changes in leaf thicknesswith VPD and light intensity were low. Marked decline in leafthickness resulted with little re-expansion in the dark at lowVPD. Soil irrigation resulted in rapid hydration and expansionof leaves. Changes in fruit diameter in contrast were positivelycorrelated with VPD fluctuations and were not influenced byphotoperiod.