Extrastomatal Control of Transpiration in Leaves of Yellow Lupin (Lupinus luteus var. Weiko III) after Drought or Abscisic Acid Treatment

Stornata of leaves of non-stressed yellow lupin plants wereclosed with phenylmercuric acetate (PMA) and viscous flow resistanceand apparent diffusive resistance were measured for both leafsurfaces. Viscous flow resistance was proportional to the ythpower of apparent diffusive resistance with y = 1.19 ±0.10 for the upper surface and y = 1.58 ± 0.11 for thelower surface, i.e. viscous flow resistance changed faster thanapparent diffusive resistance. However, in three separate experiments where lupin plants werewatered with 10^–4 M abscisic acid (ABA) for 1 week, they values were between 0.29 and 0.59 for the upper surface andbetween 0.18 and 1.00 for the lower surface. Similarly, drought-hardened plants showed y values between 0.45and 0.52 for the upper surface, and between 0.43 and 0.88 forthe lower surface. Both ABA. and drought-induced changes iny values were statistically different from PMA results at the1% confidence level. Upon rewatering, drought-stressed plants and ABA-treated plantsrecovered within 2 and 5 d respectively. Thus with both treatments there was a considerable increasein apparent diffusive resistance (and thus a decrease in transpiration)which could not be accounted for by a comparable increase inviscous flow resistance (i.e. stomatal closure). These results suggest that drought stress and ABA treatmentcause an extrastomatal resistance to transpiration in the leavesof yellow lupin plants.     

THE COMPETITION BETWEEN BARLEY AND CERTAIN WEEDS UNDER CONTROLLED CONDITIONS

One of the commonest agricultural practices in Britain is the undersowing of barley and other corn crops with clover as a preparation for a clover ley after the corn crop has been reaped. The effect of the clover growing among the corn, where manuring (especially with nitrogen) is made as favourable as possible for the corn crop, is not clear. If nitrogen is deficient, it is well known that clover can furnish nitrogen for the corn, but where the supply is ample, the clover may act as a competitive crop.
When barley and clover were planted together, with abundance of water and nutrients for both, it was found that the presence of even a small number of barley plants reduced the growth of the clover by over 50%, but that an increase in the density of the barley did not increase the effect. The presence of the clover reduced the barley crop by an amount which tended to get less as the density of the barley was increased. In a sparse crop of barley, increase in clover density reduced the growth of barley very little, while that of the clover was again found to be little more than half what was obtained when this plant was grown alone.
There is no evidence of any specific effect of the roots of the one plant on the other. In the circumstances of these experiments it would seem that, far from the clover supplying nitrogen to the barley, it tends to steal some of that which would otherwise be available to the latter, when they are grown together.