Barbaros Yaman
Wood anatomy of ivy-hosting black alder (Alnus glutinosa Gaertn.)
Dendrobiology 2009, vol. 62: 41-45
Abstract: The study aims at investigating the impact of ivy (Hedera helix L.) on the growth and on some wood anatomical characteristics of black alder trees. Ivy-hosting and non-hosting black alder have a similar wood anatomy in terms of qualitative properties. However, in ivy-hosting trees tangential and radial diameter of vessels are narrower (p <0.001), and inter-vessel pits are smaller (p <0.01), whereas vessel frequency is higher (p<0.05) than those of non-hosting ones. The average maximum ray height is greater (p<0.05), and ray number mm-1 is lower (p < 0.001) than those of non-hosting individuals. In addition, the last ten years’ average radial growth has decreased 39.5% compared to that of non-hosting black alder.
Additional key words: ivy impact, host tree, secondary xylem