Rhizome architecture for dispersal inEleocharis palustris

摘要

The rhizome architecture of a population of the spike rush,Eleocharis palustris(L.) R. amp; S., was examined. Its rhizomes were found to display remarkably little branching. Furthermore, the rhizomes turned very little from year to year in their direction of growth. In this paper, these observations are documented and possible evolutionary advantages of such an architecture are explored. Particular emphasis is placed on the hypothesis that the fitness of an individual clone could be enhanced by such a strategy through an increase in the probability of escape from a crowded seedbed.