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Factors Limiting Sexual Reproduction In Platanus Wrightii In Southeastern Arizona, Jane H. Bock, Carl E. Bock
Factors Limiting Sexual Reproduction In Platanus Wrightii In Southeastern Arizona, Jane H. Bock, Carl E. Bock
Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany
Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii: Platanaceae) is a riparian tree of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico. It is failing to reproduce in certain canyons where mature, seed-producing trees of this species occur. Three hypotheses were tested to explain this reproductive failure: I) the presence of domestic cattle prevents reproduction, 2) seeds produced in certain canyons are inviable, and 3) annual flash floods destroy seedlings and young saplings but not the large, mature trees.
Canyons, either grazed or ungrazed by domestic animals, were surveyed for the presence of seedlings and young trees. In the laboratory, seeds were tested …