Page 3 - Buia_Piraino_1989

secondand third orderroots. The seed had frequency of Posidonia fruitings in the

just lost the pericarp, and its primary root southernmostMediterraneanareasthan in

had probably broken during plantula the northernmost zones (CAYE & MEI-

growth. NESZ, 1984) could be associated with a

higher probability of successful seeding
The shoot was composed of five events. In agreement with this, frequent

leaves, the longest being 7.2 cm long and seedling observationsin the low Mediter-

0.4 cm wide, and the oldest having a ranean latitudes could give new infoma-

broken apex. There were alsofoursheaths tion on theroleplayed by sexualreproduc-
of old leaves,just shed.The featuresof the tion in thecolonizingprocessof Posidonia
seedlingarereported in TableI. The ageof oceanica.
the seedlingwasestimated,from acompa-

rison with COOPER's data (1979), to be

about 3 months, which is in agreement REFERENCES

with previous observations of mature

fruitsfoundon the southcoasts of Sicilyin BUIA M.C., CORMACI M., FURNARi

late springof 1983(BUIAet al., 1985)and G. & MAZZELLA L., 1985.- Osser-

1986 (unpublished data). vazioni sulla strutturadelle praterie di

This report has been supported by Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile di
subsequent, recent observations of see- Capo Passero (Siracusa)e studiodella
dling events in Posidonia meadows both macroflora epifita delle foglie. Boll.
in the Eolian Archipelagoand around the Acc. Gioenia Sci. Nat., It., 18 (326) :
463-484.

Siciliancoasts,and alongthe Arnalficoast

(GAMBI,pers. com. ;MAZZELLA,pers. CAYEG. &MEINESZA., 1984.-Obser-

com.; PIRAINO, pers. obs.). The higher vations sur les floraisonset la fmctifi-

cation de Posidonia oceanica dans la

Table I :~eaturesof the Posidonla seedling (In cm). baiedeVillefrancheeten Corse
du Sud. Internation. Workshop

on Posidonia oceanica Beak,

LENGTH WIDTH Boudou~squeC.F., Jeudy de

SEED 1.7 0.7 GrissacA &OlivierJ. edit,GIS
Posidonie publ., Fr., 1 : 193-

LEAVES' 201.

1" 5.7 0.4

2" 7.2 0.4 COOPER G., 1979.- Posidonia
3" 6.4 0.3
4" 5.5 0.3 oceanica = un arbm. Jardinier

5" 3.5 0.3 de la mer. Provence-Corse, 3 :

ROOTS 1-66.

l prlmaty 0.3 GIACCONE G. & SORTINO M.,

1 secondaty 0.3

Il a 0.3 1974.-Zonazionedella vegeta-
u 2.0 zione marina delle Isole Egadi
a 4.0
(CanalediSicilia).Lav.1st.bot.
1 Giard. col. Palermo, It., 25 :

i The length of the leaves was measuredfrom the ligula of 165-183.
theoldest leaf Inordsrtopreserveshootintegrity.The leaves
are numbered In oraer of lncreasing age.