Digital image analysis of different crown shape of Platycladus orientalis

Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco is a beautifully crown-shaped evergreen tree species used for ornamental cultivation. These trees are also important afforestation plants at hill sites containing calcareous parent rocks and exhibit high tolerance to drought and barren sites. However, Platycladus orientalis trees with abnormal crowns, such as fusiform and torch-form, have been identified at sites with extreme drought and barren hills in Shandong, China, although the abnormal crowns does not reduce the ornamental value of these trees. In the present study, we used the RGB imaging and geographical statistical analyses through the construction of meteorological indices. The results indicate that variations of abnormal Platycladus orientalis crowns are associated with both the internal metabolism of these trees and the external environment. Crown shapes are strongly affected by the local dry, hot and windy meteorological environment, particularly individuals planted at poor hill site conditions. In response to extreme events of drought, high temperature and strong winds, the twigs and scale leaves of Platycladus orientalis typically wilt from the lower part to the upper part of the crown. The fusiform and torch-form crowns are formed through the wilting of partial twigs and scale leaves to avoid the entire wilt of the trees, thereby saving the life of the tree at the expense of partial twigs and scale leaves.