Lapointe, L., Dept of Plant Sciences, Univ of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7
Simon, J., Dept of Plant Sciences, Univ of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7

Aster acuminatus, a forest understory species, allocates most biomass and energy to foliage and reproductive effort. Aster nemoralis, a bog species, allocates more resources to stems and rhizomes than A. acuminatus and, although average total biomass values were lower, tissues had higher caloric values. For Aster × blakei, 2 groups of populations showing morphological introgression to either parent were also correlated with resource allocation patterns. Caloric and biomass resource allocation patterns of populations of the 3 taxa did not vary significantly over the 3 yr study period, except for A. acuminatus where biomass was significantly lower in 1979 than in the other 2 yr. Populations showing higher absolute biomass values had organs with lower energy values, but when these values were expressed as percentages, the patterns of allocation of biomass and energy were not differentiated within each species. -from English summary