Alocasia brisbanensis

Figures 2 and 3 show diurnal changes in xanthophyll cycle conversion and PS II characteristics for understory leaves experiencing intermittent sunflecks. Growing on the deeply shaded floor of a multilayered subtropical rainforest, leaves of the very shade-tolerant species Alocasia brisbanensis experienced only two sunflecks of low intensity during the whole day (Fig. 2). In contrast, the vine Stephania japonica which can be found in sites ranging from full sun to deep shade was characterized in an understory site where it experienced multiple, high-intensity sunflecks over the course of the day (Fig. 3). Despite these profound differences in sunfleck...

Fig. 2. Diurnal characterization of (top panels) incident PFD, (middle panels) the fraction ofthe xanthophyll cycle converted to Z+A, and (bottom panels) energy dissipation activity quantified as nonphotochemical quenching of F , in leaves of Alocasia brisbanensis on the floor of a subtropical rainforest in Dorrigo National Park in Australia during June of 1994. Data from Logan etal. (1997).

The response of xanthophyll cycle-dependent energy dissipation in Alocasia brisbanensis to sunflecks in a subtropical rainforest. Austr J Plant Physiol 24 27-33... 

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