Vegetative tiller allometry and biomass relations in a field population of Festuca rubra s. s.

Five linear measures (length of the longest leaf blade, length of the youngest fully developed leaf blade, length of the longest living sheath, diameter of the sheath, diameter of the youngest leaf blade) and number of leaves were used to predict the tiller dry mass. Length of the sheath, length of the leaf and sheath diameter were the best single predictors. All the variables considered accounted for 86.1 % of the variance in tiller mass. The prediction using number of leaves and length of the longest leaf still amounted to 64.2% of the variance in tiller mass. There are differences in allometric relations between populations.