Studies On The Introduction And Domestication Of Several Ornamental Ferns In Anhui Province And Their Propagation Techniques

Ornamental ferns are one part of ornamental foliage plants,which are characterized with such functions as beautifying,greening,coloring and purifying environment.Because of above characteristics and shade-tolerance for which they can be adapted to grow well in shading area,they have been increasingly favored and appreciated.In this paper,studies on the utilization of the ornamental ferns were conducted,which will be certainly beneficial to richening planting resources for landscape,to improving the ornamental value of landscapes,to expanding the space of greening,which will result in the diversities of landscapes and bio-diversities in city-landscape and city-forestry,and in considerable economic and ecological benefits. This study will mainly focus on the introduction and domestication,propagation techniques,the shade-tolerance of omamental ferns.The main results are showed as follows:1.Introduction and selection of ornamental fernsBased on the theory of "the similar climate" and the principle of "correspondence match",12 species of ornamental ferns were introduced,including such different sizes In height as large,middle and small.The prospective ornamental ferns which were adapted to the sub-tropical and warm temperate zone in China were selected, including Woodwardia japonica,Cyrtomium balansae,Osmunda japonica,Pteris nervosa,Pteris semipinnata,Selaginella Nippon,Onychium japonicum,Neolepisorus ovatus,Aleuritopteris argentea,Dryopteris fuscipes,after the experiments on cultivation and domestication of ornamental ferns,based on which the evaluation indexes system of ornamental ferns were established.2.Propagation of ornamental ferns(1) The ramet is the most usual asexual propagation of fems.Managing well,survive rate is very high,approximately 100%,however,propagation quantity is little and speed is slow.(2) The sexual reproduction of Cyrtomium balansaeBased on the experiments carried in different substrates,light intensities, temperatures and concentrations of GA,germination of spores and growth situation of prothallium of Cyrtomium balansae were studied.The results were showed that the germination rate of spores was the highest when cultivated in 1 forest soil:1peat,and 50mg/kg GA,compared the forest soil,light intensity of 26001x and 14001x, temperature of 25℃and 22℃,25mg/kg GA.(3) The sexual reproduction of Woodwardia japonicaBased on the experiments carried in above methods,germination of spores and growth situation of prothallium of Cyrtomium balansae were studied.The results were showed that the germination rate of spores was the highest when cultivated in 1 forest soil:lpeat,and 50mg/kg GA,compared the forest soil,light intensity of 26001x and 14001x,temperature of 25℃and 22℃,25mg/kg GA.3.Shade-tolerance of ornamental fernsBased on the determination of the ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b and the light compensation point in leaf of ten ornamental ferns,including Woodwardia japonica,Cyrtomium balansae,Osmunda japonica,Pteris nervosa,Pteris semipinnata,Selaginella Nippon,Onychium japonicum,Neolepisorus ovatus, Aleuritopteris argentea,Dryopteris fuscipes,the results were showed that the chlorophyll b of 10 species of ornamental ferns are higher,and the ratios of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b are less than 3:1,in addition,under the different comparative light intensity,the light compensation point are very low,which reflected ornamental ferns have strong shade-tolerance.According to the differences,they were divided into two categories in decreasing order:The first category included Selaginella Nippon,Neolepisorus ovatus,Pteris nervosa,Pteris semipinnata and Woodwardia japonica.The second category included Aleuritopteris argentea,Cyrtomium balansae, Osmunda japonica,Onychium japonicum,and Dryopteris fuscipes.