Abstract
Khammash (2016) argued that self-irrigation occurs in the desert plant Rheum palaestinum Feinbrun, by collecting dew with its unique 3D leaf morphology and its extremely large leaves rather than collecting rainfall. We agree that collecting dew indeed has a theoretical potential to improve the plant’s water economy. However, we suggest that collecting dew can act as an additional mechanism for collecting water rather than an exclusive one. The unknown relative contribution of these two parallel functioning self-irrigation mechanisms to the water economy of the desert rhubarb should be further studied.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 109-111 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Plant Ecology and Evolution |
| Volume | 150 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017 Botanic Garden Meise and Royal Botanical Society of Belgium.
Keywords
- Desert rhubarb
- Dew
- Rainfall
- Rheum palaestinum
- Self-irrigation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Plant Science