This study investigated mineral element concentrations of acorns in Quercus acutissima and Quercus serrata seed orchard, so that to estimate the variation of these species based on the chemical composition in different clones from plus trees. The acorns were collected from ten clones of each species grown in the same clonal seed orchard. The nutritional concentration of acorns was significantly different between the clones and species. The concentration of nutrient for the whole acorn followed in this general sequence: P > K > Na > Mg > Ca > Mn > Fe > Zn > Cu . The mineral concentrations of acorns in clones of Q. acutissima and Q. serrata contained P (494 to 684 and 541 to 672 mg/100 g), K (114 to 569 and 140 to 251 mg/100 g), Na (57 to 121 and 49 to 85 mg/100 g), Mg (29 to 37 and 26 to 42 mg/100 g), Ca (10 to 53 and 26 to 68 mg/100 g), Mn (0.5 to 3.4 and 1.8 to 4.5 mg/100 g), Fe (0.7 to 1.1 and 0.0 to 2.2 mg/100 g), Zn (0.34 to 0.81 and 0.38 to 0.84 mg/100 g), and Cu (0.13 to 0.40 and 0.09 to 0.34 mg/100 g) respectively. Even though acorns of Q. serrata are smaller in size than Q. acutissima, acorns of Q. serrata contained significantly higher concentration of phosphorus, calcium, iron and manganese than Q. acutissima. Based on the mineral composition of the acorns, this study has shown that the clones of Q. acutissima and Q. serrata have different ability to accumulate mineral nutrients which could indicate the variation of Quercus species in terms of mineral acquisition and accumulation.

Clonal plants combine sexual and clonal reproduction, which contribute differently to plant fitness. Reproductive analyses have highlighted the importance of clonal growth in shaping the spatial genetic structure in Potentilla conferta Bunge, a herbaceous rhizomatic clonal distributed in hot sand dunes. We investigated the reproduction system of P. conferta at two populations in Mongol and three natural populations in Uzbekistan. The measurements of 19 quantitative or qualitative morphological characters were taken on each of total individuals directly from their natural habitats. Some morphological characteristics between Mongolia and Uzbekistan populations showed a slight heterogeneity of variance. Especially, the length of internodes (LFI and LSI) and characteristics of root (LLR and NOR) were shown a significant difference between two countries (P<0.05). P. conferta of Uzbekistan has most ramets at short distance intervals 30~100 cm. In light conditions, P. conferta of Uzbekistan was significantly less resilience than P. conferta of Mogol. In drought conditions, although there was not shown significant difference, P. conferta in Uzbekistan was less resilience than that in Mogol. The core analysis indicates that P. conferta in Uzbekistan is the more resistant than that of Mongol and seems to do by sexual reproduction strategy during several strong environmental disadvantages such as drought events.