Patton Linda, Jones Michael B
School of Botany, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
New Phytol. 1989 Apr;111(4):657-661. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1989.tb02360.x.
The photosynthetic light response curves and stomatal conductance of four cultivars of Salix viminalis, S. burjatica and S. × dasyclados were measured using leaves growing on unshaded plants from the field. Light saturated rates of net photosynthesis (P ) ranged from 13.9 to 22.5 μ mol m s . Cultivars of S. viminalis had the highest values of P but the lowest stomatal conductances, and as a consequence they also had the highest water use efficiency. Observations on anatomical characteristics of leaves used for photosynthesis measurements indicated a significant positive correlation between P and the ratio of the exposed surface area of mesophyll cells to leaf surface area (A /A) and chlorophyll content, and a significant negative correlation between P and area of fully expanded leaves. These observations show that there are a number of selection criteria based on both physiological and anatomical measurements which may be used to select for potentially high yielding willows.
