Soil culture experiment at two phosphorus levels was conducted to study the relationship between phosphorus environment and growth as well as dry mater accumulation of six classical Chinese tulip tree provenances from various areas.The result showed that phosphorus supply would accelerate the growth and dry matter accumulation of Liriodendron chinese ,which would adapt to phosphorus starvation by increasing root-shoot-ratio and the relative value of root parameters.The western provenances were observed to grow better at two phosphorus levels than the eastern ones. The response model of phosphorus was varied with the provenances tested.It was found that Tongdao of Hunan and Wuyishan of Fujian were less sensitivity to phosphorus with high phosphorus efficiency and productivity,while Shaoyang of Hunan and Suichang of Zhejiang were more sensitivity to phosphorus with low phosphorus efficiency. Well-developed lateral root system and more fibrous roots under low phosphorus was perhaps one of the important reasons for the provenances with high phosphorus efficiency.It was preliminarily determined that Liping of Guizhou was an excellent provenance with moderate sensitivity to phosphorus, while Tongdao of Hunan was superior provenance with high tolerability to low phosphorus stress or high phosphorus efficiency.
Soil culture experiments at two phosphorus levels were conducted to study the physiological responses(including chlorophyll content,MDA and soluble protein content,and APase activity in roots and leaves) of six Liriodendron chinese provenances with different phosphorus efficiency(PE). The result showed that low phosphorus stress would decelerate seedling growth and leaf development,lessen chlorophyll content and MDA content in leaves,and promote APase activity in root.There existed marked differences in physiological response among provenances with various PE under low phosphorus stress.It was found that the provenances with high PE possessed more and larger leaves,higher chlorophyll and soluble protein content than those provenances with low PE.Change of MDA content in leaves of provenances with high PE was small at two phosphorus levels,which meant the provenances with high PE were more resistive to environment stress.
