Paths and mechanisms of moisture movements in detached leaves of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) II. Effects of lamina treatment losses of petiole moisture

Abstract

Drying rates of laminae and petioles of detached leaves of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) were measured after lamina treatments involving crushing, slitting, and drying in hot or humid air. Lamina transpiration of petiole moisture ceased at a lamina moisture content of approximately 1.5 g moisture per g dry matter (g/g). Delaying the drying of laminae to this level increased the rate of drying of petioles, but only to a petiole moisture content of approximately 4 g/g. Thereafter, lamina transpiration of petiole moisture, if it continued, was alternative to, but no more rapid than, transpiration direct from petiole surfaces. Implications concerning field drying of harvested clover are considered.