Growth and physiological responses of ‘Chrysanthemum paludosum’ under salinity stress

Abstract

Chrysanthemum paludosum, belongs to Asteraceae family, is a perennial medicinal herb and ornamental plant. It has aesthetical values together with several medical effects such as antibacterial, antifungal, insecticidal, antioxidant, nervous, cytotoxic etc. Excess of salinity in soils is one of the major problems which reduce plant growth. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of salinity on C. paludosum by assaying plant growth and some physiological traits. C. paludosum plants were irrigated with five different levels of NaCl concentrations (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 mM) for 30 days with 3 days intervals in pots under greenhouse conditions. The effects of salinity stress on diameter of flower and disc floret, number of flowers, shoot height, root length, thickness of root collar and stem, fresh weights of root and shoot, dry weights of root and shoot, leaf chlorophyll concentration (SPAD readings), moisture content on wet basis, relative water content and ion leakage were investigated. According to the results, flower diameters, disc florets, number of flowers, shoot height, root collar thickness, root and shoot fresh weights were negatively affected in 150 and 200 mM NaCl treatments. In parallel, ion leakage also highly increased in 150 and 200 mM NaCl treatments. Leaf chlorophyll concentrations decreased by increasing salinity levels.