VEGETATIVE REPRODUCTION IN ARUM MACULUTUM 



By C. T. Prime 



Arum maculatum L. reproduces by seed, but before the corm is large enough to 

 flower, daughters are budded off and these develop more rapidly than seedlings. A. 

 maculatum is a gregarious plant growing in clumps or patches and this vegetative method 

 of reproduction readily suggests how some of these may have come about. If the clump 

 is a clone, then the plants would be expected to be identical. On the other hand, a 

 bird or other dispersal agency might well drop several seeds close together. These seeds 

 would most likely be of different genetic constitution, and in due course would give 

 several closely associated plants showing more variation. There is also the third and 

 most likely possibility, namely a combination of the two. 



In order to get definite information on these points, certain clumps were dug up and 

 the corms carefully mapped. In one quite typical area there were 233 plants, some in 

 clumps, others more scattered. The general impression gained is that vegetative multi- 

 plication is more important than reproduction by seed. In this example about thirty to 

 forty seeds could have accounted for the whole 233 plants. Thus vegetative multiplication 

 is probably about six times as effective as reproduction by seed. 





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Fig. 1. Map of an Arum colony. The arrows indicate the direction of growth and length of corm, the circles 

 indicate corms with a nearly vertical shoot. (Ground scale X i ; Corm lengths X |). 



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