Vol. 72 No: 3

Title:
Temperature Effects on the Leaf Pigmentation of Cotinus Coggygria ‘Royal Purple’

Authors:
MICHAL OREN-SHAMIR and A. LEVI-NISSIM

pp: 425-432

Abstract:
C. coggygria cv. Royal Purple leaves change colour from green to a dark wine-purple in response to various environmental conditions such as temperature, light intensity, and soil composition. In the present study we examined the effect of temperature on pigmentation of C. coggygria leaves and on the growth rate and the photosynthetic capacity of the plant. In addition we investigated the reversibility of the temperature dependent pigmentation process. Low temperatures induce accumulation of anthocyanin in C. coggygria leaves. Both young and fully matured leaves of plants grown in 17°C/9°C day/night cycles accumulated high concentrations of anthocyanin, compared with plants grown at higher temperatures. The accumulation of anthocyanin at low temperatures was accompanied by inhibition of growth. However, chlorophyll concentration in the leaves was not influenced by temperature and the photosynthetic ability varied only slightly among plants growing at different temperatures. When C. coggygria is transferred from cold to warm temperatures its leaves lose their red pigmentation, and the anthocyanin concentration decreases both in young and mature leaves. However, when green plants are transferred from warm to cold temperatures, only the young leaves accumulate anthocyanin. This suggests that cold treatment of plants can serve as an inducer of red pigmentation, but only in young leaves.

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