ENTS, In this area are many patches of staghorn sumac. They grow along the roads, in yards, and in old fields. Some of the patches are quite extensive. Sumac grows primarily through root sprouts to form large clonal colonies in which each individual stem is genetically the same as its neighbor. In many of these patches I have casually wondered if what I was seeing was a single large colony or whether it was a series of smaller colonies growing together. Today I got answer for some of the patches anyway. The thing is that a single clonal colony, because they are genetically identical will typically change colors all at one time. In one field there were three distinctly different colored patches. One was a dark red, the second was a bright orange, ad the third was yellow. So in this one case I had my answer. This larger sumac grove consisted of three different clonal colonies. Cool.
Ed "Oh, I call myself a scientist. I wear a white coat and probe a monkey every now and then, but if I put monetary gain ahead of preserving nature...I couldn't live with myself." - Professor Hubert Farnsworth --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
