GROWTH ANALYSIS OF MYCORRHIZAL AND NONMYCORRHIZAL BLACK OAK (QUERCUS VELUTINALAM.) SEEDLINGS

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Abstract
Summary: Inoculation of seedlings of black oak (Quercus velutinaLam.) withPisolithus tinctorius(Pers.) Coker and Couch andSuillus luteus(L. ex Fr.) S. F. Gray stimulated total growth and several individual growth components as indicated by classical growth analysis of a 19‐week experiment. Inoculation withPisolithuswas more effective in increasing growth than was inoculation withSuillus.Mycorrhizal seedlings exhibited generally higher leaf area ratios than did uninfected seedlings from the seventh week after planting. Unit leaf rates (Ē) and relative growth rates (R̄) were higher for two of five harvest intervals in mycorrhizal plants, with the greatest values ofĒandR̄observed in seedlings inoculated withPisolithus.The alteration of growth patterns associated with inoculation was observed from six to nine weeks before substantial infection was detected. In general, mycorrhizal infection was associated with a greater relative investment of dry weight in leaf area and in early stimulation ofĒandR̄, a situation that increased total growth greatly as a result of early gains in productive plant mass.