GROWTH IN MEDEOLA VIRGINIANA CLONES I. FIELD OBSERVATIONS

The pattern of clonal growth in Medeola virginiana was mapped over twelve square meters in a successional white pine forest of eastern Massachusetts. From these maps and an additional sample of excavated plants, the distances and angles of divergence of daughter ramets from the base of the parent shoot were measured for 213 plants. All clonal growth parameters were found to be highly variable in the ñeld, with coefficients of variation ranging from 17-92%. The rules describing the pattern of growth of daughter ramets were found to be considerably more complicated than previously reported (Bell, 1974). The mortality of tubers, the natural variation of parameters of growth, and the complex patterns of daughter production all call into question the ability of idealized, deterministic models of growth to predict the form of clones and the position of ramets in the field.