Xylem water potentials and hydraulic conductances in eight species of ferns

Water potentials, flow rates, and anatomy of xylary elements were studied in eight species of ferns to assess the physical constraints that xylem structure presents to water flow. Comparisons were made among ferns of different leaf morphology as well as between a fern with vessels and ferns with tracheids only. Hydraulic conductance was measured by forcing a solution through excised plant segments. These hydraulic conductances were in close agreement with conductances calculated from water potential gradients and flows measured in intact plants. In three species, backflushing excised segments by forcing a basipetal flow increased subsequently measured conductances two- to six-fold, indicating that the xylem of these three species was partially blocked in intact plants. Hagen–Poiseuille estimates of conductance based on xylary element diameters were 1.8–2.7 times the conductances measured for excised segments. Hydraulic conductances of tracheids and vessels of ferns thus deviate from those of ideal capillaries of similar diameter to about the same extent as has been reported for tracheids in conifers and for vessels in dicotyledons.