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Morphology and Anatomy of Honey Mesquite

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Morphology and Anatomy of Honey Mesquite tsetœ Morphology and Anatomy of Honey Mesquite Technical Bulletin Ko. 1423 Agricuifural Raseorch Service ^^ UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE in cooperation with the Tex« Agricultural Experiment Station 318019 Morphology and Anatomy of Honey Mesquite TECHNICAL BULLETIN NO. 1423 Agricultural Research Service UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE in cooperation with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station PREFACE Mesquite {Prosopis spp.) is one of the most serious woody-plant problems of rangelands of the Southwest. Mesquite occurs on approx- imately 70 million acres in the States of Oklahoma, Texas, New Mex- ico Arizona, and California (21, 51), (see Literature Cited, p. 181) and, equally important, mesquite is infesting more area annually. Diligent efforts have been made to control this plant mechanically and chemically. Methods have been worked out; however, none has been entirely satisfactory from the economic and conservation stand- points. Research continues for the development of better control methods. One handicap in experimentation has been the lack of knowledge on the structure, biochemistry, and seasonal development of mesquite. The development of a new and better method of mesquite control probably best can be attained by understanding more fully the plant's structure, general biochemistry, and response to various chemicals and mechanical treatments. This study was undertaken to delineate the gross structure of one species, honey mesquite (Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC. var. glari- dulosa (Torr.) Cockerell). More specifically the study was primarily limited to plants in central Texas near Benchley. This report is not meant to be highly detailed. Rather, only the details observed visually and with the light microscope are included. It is hoped that this in- formation can be used to stimulate future research at the cellular level both on fundamental biochemistry and specific responses to herbicides. The authors sincerely appreciate the assistance and advice received in making this study and in the preparation of the bulletin. Par- ticularly helpful in making the study were Robert Nims, Mrs. Shirlene Meyer, Mrs. Elizabeth Norton, Mrs. Judith Ertel, Mrs. Karen Eiken- berry, Mrs. Julia Schroeder, and Charles Minor for collecting samples, preparing slides, making measurements, and taking photographs. W. H. Thames, Jr., kindly provided microscope equipment and advice. Personnel at Photographic and Visual Aids gave special assistance on photograph processing. H. M. Hull and S. J. Shellhorn gave helpful suggestions on the manuscript. This study was supported cooperatively by the Agricultural Re- search Service, United States Department of Agriculture and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station through the Central Research Fund-1, as Hatch Project 1322. Ill CONTENTS Page Page Introduction 1 Bud anatomy 57 Distribution and habitat _ 1 Wood chemistry 64 Taxonomy 1 Leaf morphology and Economic importance 2 anatomy 112 General materials and Leaf location and number methods 2 produced 113 Legume, seed, and seedling _ 3 Morphology 115 Legume and seed morph- Anatomy 118 ology and anatomy 3 Inflorescence 152 Seed germination 4 Sites and times of floral Seedling morphology _-_ 4 production 152 Seedling anatomy 6 Inflorescence morphology Morphology of the stem _ 19 and anatomy 155 Plant form and branching 19 Thorn production 26 Root morphology and Bud development 27 anatomy 161 Anatomy of the stem 37 Materials and methods __ 161 Gross features 37 Morphology 161 Microscopic features of the Anatomy 162 stem 38 General discussion 174 Characteristics of the ma- Literature cited 181 ture trunk 47 Identification list 185 Mention of a proprietary product in this publication does not con- stitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and does not imply its approval by the Department to the exclusion of other products that may also be suitable. Washington, D.C. Issued—January 1971 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 Price $1.25 cents IV MORPHOLOGY and ANATOMY of HONEY MESQUITE By R. E. MEYER and H. L. MORTON, plant physiologists, Crops Research Division^ Agricultural Research Service; R. H. HAAS and E. D. ROBISON, range scien- tists, Texas A & M University, College Station, Tex.; and T. E. RiLEY, agricultural research technician. Crops Research Division, Agricultural Re- search Service INTRODUCTION NOTE: Figures pertaining to each section are grouped together at the end of section. The identification of the letters indicating the plant parts in the figures is given on page 185. Distribution and Habitat upland neutral and alkaline Mesquite species infest about areas where annual rainfall is 70 million acres of the United more than 30 inches (21). It States in Texas, Oklahoma, south- grows to elevations of 4,500 feet, ern New Mexico, and southeast- in areas with 200 frost-free days, ern California {5,21, 29, 51).^ In and to a northern latitude having Texas, mesquite, mostly honey a minimum temperature of mesquite, infests about 56 million -5°F. acres of which about 15.8 million Taxonomy acres have a canopy of 20 percent Mesquite belongs to the Legu- or more (56). In general, honey minosae family, Mimosaceae sub- mesquite grows throughout Texas family, Prosopis genus, and AU except for the western corner garobia section. Bension and near El Paso. It grows northward Darrow(5)named honey mesquite into northern Oklahoma. Peacock Prosopis juUflora (Swartz) DC. and McMillan (^7) suggest that vsiY. glandulosa (Torr.) Cockerell; mesquite's spread to the north is more recently, Johnston (29) probably limited by severity of classified honey mesquite Pro- winter temperature and to the sopis glandulosa var. glandulosa east by ecological or climatic fac- (Torr.). The following are the tors. key characteristics of honey mes- Mesquite grows along drainage quite adapted from Benson and ways in areas where rainfall is Darrow's (5) classification: plant less than 6 inches and persists on glabrous or essentially so, some- ' Italic numbers in parentheses refer times with scattered hairs; pet- to Literature Cited, p. 181. ioles 5-13 cm. long, 0.8-1.1 mm. TECHNICAL BULLETIN 1423, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE in diameter; primary leaflets livestock handling difficult, and (rachises) in 1 pair, a few in aggravated water shortages (50). 2 pairs; large secondary leaflets Consequently, numerous meth- (leaflets) linear or narrowly lin- ods, including mechanical, chemi- ear-lanceolate 25-45 or 63 mm. cal, and fire, have been developed long, 9-11 times as long as broad, in an attempt to control mesquite spaced commonly 6-18 mm. for the longest possible time at apart; pedicels (stalks) of the in- the least cost for the highest live- dividual flowers usually 0.8-1 mm. stock production consistent with long; seeds usually narrowly el- conservation of natural range re- lipsoidal, about twice as long as sources. broad, occasionally obovate. Possible uses of mesquite have been discussed by Marshall (^i). Economic Importance Mesquite can be used for several The undesirable feature of purposes, but generally other mesquite as a competitor on sources have been more desirable rangeland has far outweighed its and cheaper. Major uses that useful qualities. Mesquite infesta- have been investigated include: tions have seriously reduced forage and roughage (^0), fence- yields of desirable forage species, posts, honeymaking, flooring, opened land for erosion, made charcoal, and chemicals. GENERAL MATERIALS AND METHODS Only a description of the gen- ured with a microscope or dis- eral methods used, such as sam- secting scope equipped with a ple preparation for study and calibrated ocular micrometer. photographic procedures, are in- Three measurements were made cluded in this section. Special on each of four stem or root seg- techniques are discussed in the ments of each age sample at each individual sections. date. Stem transectional measure- The general methods described ments were made from fixed tis- by Johansen (28) and Sass (58) sues. Thin transectional slices were used for preparation of per- were cut with a razor blade and manent tissue mounts. The tis- stained with a drop of 1 percent sues were fixed in a Craf solution aqueous neutral red solution. Tis- and were dehydrated in ethanol sue width or diameter was meas- and tertiary butyl alcohol series. MORPHOLOGY AND ANATOMY OF HONEY MESQUITE The tissues were embedded in mitted and incident light. Kodak Paraplast (m.p. 56°-58° C.) and Panatomic-X black and white cut with a rotary microtome. The film was used for photomicro- sections were stained for 30 graphy and was developed for 5 minutes in safranin 0 and 3 min- minutes in Kodak DK 60-A de- utes in fast green FCF stains. veloper. Plus-X film was used Other staining methods were outdoors and was developed in tried, including Shellhorn and D-76 developer. A few black and Huirs (5^) six-dye staining white enlargements were made from 35 mm. color transparen- schedule, but none were superior cies. to safranin 0 and fast green for Photographs were mounted in general use on both woody and illustrations so that the outer soft tissues. organ surface is either at the top Most photos were made with or at the right side of the page, 4- by 5-inch cameras, with trans- unless otherwise stated. LEGUME, SEED, AND SEEDLINGS Legume and Seed Morphology and Seeds are brown, oval, 5 mm. Anatomy wide and 7 mm. long, and 2 mm. thick in the center. The number The mesquite fruit is a linear, of cleaned seed per pound varies flat, yellow, indéhiscent legume from 10,000 to 16,000, with about about 10 to 20 cm. long, about 1 14,000 being average (61), The cm. wide, and about 0.5 cm. thick testa, or seedcoat, is glossy (fig. 1). It is either straight or brown, and the cotyledons are slightly curved. It is readily yellow and hard. sought by animals for its meso- Figure 2 is a transectional carp.
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