© 1988 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Lateral bud outgrowth on decapitated shoots of low-pruned mulberry (Morus alba L.)
T. Suzuki (1, 2), M. Kitano (1) and K. Kohno (1)
1. Faculty of Textile Science, Kyoto Kogei-Sen-i University, Matsugasaki, Kyoto 606, Japan / 2. Author to whom correspondence should be addressed / Received October 26, 1987
Summary
After decapitation, lateral shoot growth of mulberry coppice (Morus alba L. cv. Shin-ichinose) from 10-year-old stumps had an extremely acrotonic form compared with that of intact one-year-old stems
of trees during the spring. When one dominant shoot from each stump was decapitated, only a few upper lateral buds grew out
and elongated. Defoliation of the decapitated shoots resulted in an increase in the number of shoots sprouting and a decrease
in the rate of elongation of the laterals. Further enhancement of laterals on decapitated dominant shoots resulted from the
removal of competing intact coppice shoots from the stumps. 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) applied as a spray reduced the
number of lateral buds sprouting from both defoliated, decapitated erect shoots and intact horizontally trained shoots. The
results suggest that management of mulberry coppice could increase the supply of leaves for commercial silk production.
