The Experimental Control of Inflorescence Development in Carex

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Abstract
In an attempt to elucidate the factors controlling the development of the inflorescence of Carex various substances were applied to plants of several species during and after the transition to the flowering phase. The main effects of the treatments on the inflorescence were that indole-3–acetic acid and i-naphtha-leneacetic acid caused the induction of female spikelets on the sites of potential male flowers, 2, 3, 5-triiodobenzoic acid caused suppression of branching and kinetin an increase in branching. All three substances resulted in a decrease in the flowering response, as expressed by the number of inflorescences produced. On the basis of these results it is suggested that normal development of the inflorescence can be explained on a hypothesis involving two substances, one probably an auxin and the other replaceable in experiments by kinetin. The possibility is considered that this second substance may be a kinetin-like factor produced by the roots.