Establishment of modular growth in a tropical tree: Isertia coccinea Vahl. ( Rubiaceae).

Abstract

Isertia coccinea is a small tree that conforms to Scarrone's architectural model. Before flowering, this tree is not modular and consists of an orthotropic trunck bearing rhythmic tiers of orthotropic branches. In a later stage, the lateral complexes branch sympodially as a result of terminal flowering, the whole tree displaying a partly modular stage. Later still, the trunk can terminate in an inflorescence, the tree's growth thus becoming entirely modular. In shaded conditions, the modular stage is long or indeterminate; in open conditions it can be very short, the entirely modular stage becoming dominant early in the life of the tree. -from Author