Plant-breeding studies in leguminous forage crops III. Preliminary studies on the developmental physiology of English stocks of beans (Vicia faba L.)

Abstract

1. The reaction of spring and winter types of field beans and of Windsor broad beans to artificial vernalization treatments and to successional field sowing has been studied.2. The broad bean type came into flower earlier and at a lower node on the stem than any of the field bean types, and this was not affected by either vernalization treatments or successional sowing.3. The field bean types flowered at a low node when sown in winter, but in summer sowings the level of the first flowering node was much higher; the response of the winter types was more extreme than that of the spring types.4. In the summer sowings vernalized plants came into flower earlier and at a lower node than unvernalized, but in the winter sowings both vernalized and unvernalized material flowered at an equally low node.5. A convention for naming the different stems contributing to the yield was evolved, and using this it was shown that the date of sowing affected the stems produced.6. The survival of plants in the field was not found to be affected by vernalization previous to sowing.