Adaptive Leaf Architecture in Emergent and Floating Sparganium

The robust emergent leaves of Sparganium eurycarpum and S. americanum are supported by corner fiber masses and large bundle sheaths, but the thin floating leaves of S. fluctuans and S. minimum have only moderate bundle sheaths. In emergent types heavily photosynthetic diaphragms bearing vascular bundles are separated from each other in the leaf compartments by three lightly photosynthetic diaphragms without bundles, but in floating types only every other heavily photosynthetic diaphragm has a bundle. Palisade chlorenchyma occurs only at aerial surfaces—abaxial and adaxial in emergent leaves, but only adaxial in floating leaves. Extra photosynthetic areas are provided in emergent leaves by concentrations of chlorenchyma in limited areas on interior partitioning walls, while the remainder of the walls is translucent. Since only 25 % of the diaphragms are heavily photosynthetic, and the others essentially transparent because of their diffusely distributed chloroplasts and large intercellular spaces, a sieve effect exists which allows even the interior parts of thick emergent leaves to photosynthesize.