Pampa Biome Native Plant Appreciation by the Analysis of <i>Glandularia peruviana</i> (L.) Cuttings Growth

Abstract

A native plant of Biome Pampa (Southern Brazil), the Glandularia peruviana (L.) Small species has been, until now, little studied as ornamental plant for use as mulch and formation of massifs. Whilst this species didn’t suffer any genetic improvement process, it is extremely ornamental by its color and size. In order to promote its comercial propagation and its use to improve the Pampa biodiversity, this study was conducted to know, as a ruderal plant native from South America, how the behavior of the plants was when employed plant propagation and use of artificial auxin on the cuttings. The test consisted of assessing the growth of cuttings treated or not with indol-butyric acid, analyzed at diferent ages, at 21, 24, 27 and 31 days in the University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil. It was observed that the plant total dry mass values showed no standard of behavior, values for dry matter, whether of leaves, stem, root, shoot and total not responded to treatments and analyzed ages. The same occurred for specific leaf weight, plant height, number of green leaves, number of dead leaves, average leaf length and average number of stems. The lack of significant treatment and age effects may be explained by the plant primitiveness, which is ruderal, so its development has little influenced by the propagation practices.