The Diversity in Shoot Morphology of Herbaceous Plants in Relation to Solar Radiation Captured by Leaves

The diversity in shoot morphology of herbaceous plants is examined using model plants that are constructed mathematically on the computer and specified by observational data. The analysis is done theoretically and computationally, based on factors that may influence shoot morphology, i.e. (i) solar radiation captured by leaves, (ii) effective usage of resource among leaves, stems, and veins. It is found that the flux of solar radiation per leaf area per day is nearly constant for each phyllotactic pattern (i.e. spiral, distichous and whorled pattern). We reveal here that the constancy of flux corresponds to the principle of maximum flux per leaf per day under trade-offs of resource among leaves, stems, and veins. We further evaluate the relationship between permeability of solar radiation through leaves and internodal distance. Our results indicate that there is a variety of shoot morphologies or strategies to get the same flux of solar radiation into a given phyllotactic pattern.