Floral freezing tolerance is tied to flowering time in North American woody plant species.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

As winter and spring temperatures continue to increase, the timing of flowering and leaf-out is advancing in many seasonally cold regions. This advancement could put plants that flower early in the spring at risk of decreased reproduction in years when there are late freeze events. Unfortunately, relatively little is known about floral freezing tolerance in forest communities. In this study, we examined the impact of freezing temperatures on the flowers of woody plants in a region where there is rapid winter warming in North America.

Methods

We subjected the flowers of 25 woody species to a hard (-5 °C) and a light freeze (0 °C). We assessed tissue damage using electrolyte leakage. In a subset of species, we also examined the impact of a hard freeze on po

SUBMITTER: Savage JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11805926 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature