1Applied Plant Anatomy And Wood Technology Laboratory Department Of Plant Biology, Faculty Of Life Sciences, University Of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria
2Department Of Plant Biology, Faculty Of Life Sciences, University Of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria
3Department Of Botany And Microbiology, College Of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
*E-mail: abdulrahamanaa@unilorin.edu.ng aaaolatunji@gmail.com
Online published on 15 October, 2019.
Two ornamental plants, namely Canna indicia and Euphorbia milii were subjected to four watering frequencies viz. daily, weekly, biweekly and monthly, each with five watering regimes (1.25%, 2.5%, 5%, 10% and 20%). After six weeks of watering, leaf area and transpiration rate of the seedlings were determined. The leaves were larger in C. indica ranging from (105 mm2-436 mm2) than in E. milii (36 mm2-142 mm2) while transpiration rates were higher in E. milii (1.78x104 mol/m−2/sec−1-2.56x10−3 mol/m−2/sec−1) than in C. indica (2.48x10−4 mol/m−2/sec−1-3.70x10−5 mol/m−2/sec−1). Leaf area has no effect on the rate of transpiration in these two plants, but absence of evidence of transpiration on the adaxial surface of leaves of E. milii suggests that other anatomical features such as stomata rather than the leaf area might determine the rate of transpiration in plants.
Canna indica, Euphorbia milii, leaf area, transpiration rate
