Sclerophylly and Plant Water Relations in Three Mediterranean Quercus Species

Abstract

To extend our study on the possible functional significance of Sclerophylly in terms of plan water relations, we decided to take into consideration species phillogenetically nearer to one another. Since sclerophylly is known to increase with leaf age but not necessarily synchronously with other water relation parameters of known physiological importance, it was decided to study leaves of Q. ilex, Q. suber and Q. pubescens through their ontogeny