Lignotuber

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Lignotuber of Cussonia paniculata partly exposed above ground Cussonia paniculata - Lignotuber.JPG
Lignotuber of Cussonia paniculata partly exposed above ground
Camphor trees at the Vergelegen Estate Camphor Trees2, Vergelegen.JPG
Camphor trees at the Vergelegen Estate

A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. [1] Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response to coppicing or other environmental stressors. However, lignotubers are specifically part of the normal course of development of the plants that possess them, and often develop early on in growth. [2] The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, as well as stores of starch that can support a period of growth in the absence of photosynthesis. The term "lignotuber" was coined in 1924 by Australian botanist Leslie R. Kerr.[ citation needed ]

Plants possessing lignotubers include many species in Australia: Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah), Eucalyptus brevifolia (snappy gum) and Eucalyptus ficifolia (scarlet gum) all of which can have lignotubers ten feet (3 m) wide and three feet (1 m) deep, as well as most mallees (where it is also known as a mallee root [3] ) and many Banksia species.

Plants possessing lignotubers on the western coast of the USA include California buckeye, coast redwood, California bay laurel (aka Oregon myrtle), and multiple species of manzanita and Ceanothus . [2]

At least 14 species in the Mediterranean region have been identified as having lignotubers (as of 1993). Lignotubers develop from the cotyledonary bud in seedlings of several oak species including cork oak Quercus suber , but do not develop in several other oak species, and are not apparent in mature cork oak trees. [4]

The fire-resistant lignotubers of Erica arborea , known as "briar root", are commonly used to make smoking pipes.

The largest known lignotubers (also called "root collar burls") are those of the Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) of central and northern California and extreme southwestern Oregon. A lignotuber washed into Big Lagoon, California, by the full gale storm of 1977 was 41 ft (12 m) in diameter and about half as tall and estimated to weigh 525 short tons (476 t). [5] The largest dicot lignotubers are those of the Chinese Camphor Tree, or Kusu (Cinnamomum camphora) of Japan, China and the Koreas. Ones at the Vergelegen Estate in Cape Town, South Africa, which were planted in the late 1600s have muffin-shaped lignotubers up to six feet (2 m) high and about 30 ft (9 m) in diameter. [6] [7] Perhaps the largest lignotuber in Australia would be that of "Old Bottle Butt", a Red Bloodwood Tree ( Corymbia gummifera ) near Wauchope, New South Wales, that has a lignotuber about 8 ft (2.4 m) in height and 16.3 m (53 ft) in circumference at breast height. [8]

Many plants with lignotubers grow in a shrubby habit, but with multiple stems arising from the lignotuber. The term lignotuberous shrub is used to describe this habit.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Eucalyptus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family

Eucalyptus is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of Eucalyptus are trees, often mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including Corymbia and Angophora, they are commonly known as eucalypts or "gum trees". Plants in the genus Eucalyptus have bark that is either smooth, fibrous, hard or stringy, the leaves have oil glands, and the sepals and petals are fused to form a "cap" or operculum over the stamens. The fruit is a woody capsule commonly referred to as a "gumnut".

<i>Quercus kelloggii</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus kelloggii, the California black oak or Kellogg oak, is an oak in the red oak section native to western North America. Although genetically separated from them for more than 20 million years, its leaves are remarkably similar in appearance to several other members of the red oak section including the red oak and the black oak found in eastern and central North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sclerophyll</span> Type of plant

Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek sklēros (hard) and phyllon (leaf). The term was coined by A.F.W. Schimper in 1898, originally as a synonym of xeromorph, but the two words were later differentiated.

<i>Eucalyptus pauciflora</i> Species of plant

Eucalyptus pauciflora, commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally, is a species of tree or mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters of between seven and fifteen, white flowers and cup-shaped, conical or hemispherical fruit. It is widespread and locally common in woodland in cold sites above 700 m (2,300 ft) altitude.

<i>Eucalyptus cornuta</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus cornuta, commonly known as yate, is a tree species, sometimes a mallee and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has rough, fibrous bark on all or most of its trunk, smooth bark above, mostly lance-shaped adult leaves, elongated flower buds in groups of eleven or more, yellowish flowers and cylindrical to cup-shaped fruit. It is widely cultivated and produces one of the hardest and strongest timbers in the world.

<i>Eucalyptus botryoides</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus botryoides, commonly known as the bangalay, bastard jarrah, woollybutt or southern mahogany, is a small to tall tree native to southeastern Australia. Reaching up to 40 metres high, it has rough bark on its trunk and branches. It is found on sandstone- or shale-based soils in open woodland, or on more sandy soils behind sand dunes. The white flowers appear in summer and autumn. It reproduces by resprouting from its woody lignotuber or epicormic buds after bushfire. E. botryoides hybridises with the Sydney blue gum in the Sydney region. The hard, durable wood has been used for panelling and flooring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mallee (habit)</span> Growth habit of certain eucalypt species

Mallee are trees or shrubs, mainly certain species of eucalypts, which grow with multiple stems springing from an underground lignotuber, usually to a height of no more than 10 m (33 ft). The term is widely used for trees with this growth habit across southern Australia, in the states of Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, and has given rise to other uses of the term, including the ecosystems where such trees predominate, specific geographic areas within some of the states and as part of various species' names.

<i>Eucalyptus pulverulenta</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus pulverulenta, commonly known as silver-leaved mountain gum, is a species of straggly tree or mallee that is endemic to southern New South Wales. It has smooth bark, egg-shaped, heart-shaped or round, sessile leaves arranged in opposite pairs, flower buds in groups of three, white flowers and cup-shaped to cylindrical fruit.

Crown sprouting is the ability of a plant to regenerate its shoot system after destruction by activating dormant vegetative structures to produce regrowth from the root crown. These dormant structures take the form of lignotubers or basal epicormic buds. Plant species that can accomplish crown sprouting are called crown resprouters and, like them, are characteristic of fire-prone habitats such as chaparral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epicormic shoot</span> Plant shoot growing from an epicormic bud

An epicormic shoot is a shoot growing from an epicormic bud, which lies underneath the bark of a trunk, stem, or branch of a plant.

<i>Sequoia sempervirens</i> Species of tree

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Eucalyptus vicina, commonly known as the Manara Hills red gum, is a species of mallee in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to western New South Wales. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped or hemispherical fruit.

<i>Eucalyptus herbertiana</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus herbertiana, commonly known as Kalumburu gum or yellow-barked mallee, is a species of small tree or mallee that is endemic to northern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowers and cup-shaped, hemispherical or conical fruit.

<i>Eucalyptus incrassata</i> Species of eucalyptus

Eucalyptus incrassata, commonly known as the lerp mallee, yellow mallee, ridge fruited mallee or rib fruited mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to southern Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough, ribbony bark near the base, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy white, pale yellow, sometimes pink or red flowers, and cylindrical, barrel-shaped or bell-shaped fruit.

<i>Eucalyptus mooreana</i> Species of eucalyptus

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References

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  2. 1 2 Keeley, Jon E.; Bond, William J.; Bradstock, Ross A.; Pausas, Juli G.; Rundel, Philip W. (2012). Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-82491-0.
  3. Thomson, Sophie (14 October 2006). "Mallee Trees". Gardening Australia . Series 17, Episode 35. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  4. M. L. Molinas; D. Verdaguer (1993). "Lignotuber Ontogeny in the Cork-Oak (Quercus suber; Fagaceae). I. Late Embryo". American Journal of Botany. 80 (2): 172–181. doi:10.2307/2445037. JSTOR   2445037.
  5. Del Tredici, Peter (Fall 1999). "Redwood Burls – Immortality Underground". Arnoldia. 59 (3): photo and caption p. 19.
  6. Esterhuyse, Neels; et al. Remarkable Trees of South Africa. Pretoria: Briza Publications. pp. 102–103.
  7. Pakenham, Thomas. Remarkable Trees of the World. New York: W. W. Norton and Co. pp. 122–123.
  8. "National Register Of Big Trees". Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.