Observations Relating to Vigour and Debility in Marram Grass (Ammophila Arenaria (L.) Link)

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Abstract
Debility (correlated with ageing of the root system) can occur without competition. Rejuvenation (correlated with sand-accretion and growth of new roots) often cannot easily be ascribed to accretion of extra nutrients. States of high and low vigor can occur without relation of flowering. Rhizomes clearly permit the formation of new roots without dependence on sand-accretion, but in low-vigor colonies (clones) on static sites this effect of rhizomes does not clearly compensate for their extended growth-output underground, since vigor sometimes continues to decline. The production of roots by nodes (observed chiefly on rhizomes) begins with one or two roots and commonly reaches a total of four. Wiry (decorticate) roots often retain fleshy (corticate) tips. The performance of plants grown in a garden soil suggests that several of the natural attributes of merram grass, including the phenomenon of debility, are caused by the conditions present on dunes.