[Taxacom] adaptation of plants to mowing

[Frederick W. Schueler]

On 29-Jul.-20 10:46 p.m., John Grehan wrote:

> Fred, by "evolving low growth forms adapted to life on lawns" do you 
> mean species already having low growth forms and therefore 'preadapted' 
> in this respect, or are you referring to species that now have varieties 
> that are found in lawns that have a lower growth form than 'natural' 
> populations?

* I mean either the de novo evolution of low growth forms in lawns, or 
the spread of low-growing varieties within species. I'm sure lawns 
weren't spangled with sheets of yellow Lotus corniculatus 20 years ago 
(my first record of the species in a lawn is from 2007). I and others 
have also noticed low-growing Prunella vulgaris (Heal-all) in lawns, and 
doubtless many other species. In Ontario this spread may have been 
facilitated by the ban on recreational herbicides that came into effect 
in April 2009.

> On Wed, Jul 29, 2020 at 10:13 PM Frederick W. Schueler via Taxacom 
> <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu <mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>> wrote:
> 
> Taxacomers, I'm writing an article for our local newspaper about the way low-growing patches of Lotus corniculatus, Bird's-foot Trefoil, are spreading across lawns in eastern Ontario. I've asked a botanists group, and have googled around, but can't find any published research on this. Does anyone know of work done on plant species (other than Dandelions) evolving low growth forms adapted to life on lawns?
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