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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Optical Properties of Hairs During the Early Stages of Leaf Development in Platanus orientalis

M Ntefidou and Y Manetas

Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 23(4) 535 - 538
Published: 1996

Abstract

Young, developing leaves of plane (Platanus orientalis L.) possess a dense hair cover on both surfaces but, as the leaf matures, the hairs of the upper surface abscise, leading to a glabrous epidermis. Leaf hairs strongly attenuate visible radiation, partly due to high reflectance of the trichome layer and partly to the presence of an absorbing pigment, tentatively identified as the anthocyanidin peonidin, which was present in the hairs of exposed young leaves but was absent on leaves harvested from the interior of the canopy. It is suggested that leaf hairs, apart from other functions, may protect developing leaves against the photoinhibitory effect of excess light.

https://doi.org/10.1071/PP9960535

© CSIRO 1996

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