Altitudinal effects on functional traits and medicinal components of the endangered species Fritillaria unibracteata

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2025.0253

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims The wild resources of Fritillaria unibracteata, a precious and endangered medicinal plant, have been severely depleted due to long-term over-exploitation. To identify optimal cultivation practices and expand its planting range, this study aims to investigate the plant’s functional traits and the medicinal component content in its bulbs across different altitudes.

Methods A two-year field pot experiment was conducted along an altitudinal gradient from 3 410 m to 1 170 m, with five specific altitude levels. We monitored phenological phases, measured morphological traits, and analyzed the contents of total alkaloids and total saponins in the bulbs.

Important findings The results showed that the germination stage, leaf spreading stage and flowering stage of F. unibracteata were highly significantly advanced with decreasing altitude. In contrast, the wilting stage was first delayed and then advanced, resulting in a growing season length that initially increased and then decreased, peaking at (105.80 ± 4.87) d at 3 080 m. Plant height and single leaf area exhibited a unimodal pattern, first increasing and then decreasing with lower altitude, while the specific leaf area showed a “U”-shaped trend (first decreasing and then increasing). The individual bulb biomass also followed a unimodal pattern, reaching its maximum (1.40 ± 0.29) g at 3 080 m. The contents of total alkaloids and total saponins in bulbs demonstrated a “U”-shaped response to decreasing altitude. Notably, no significant difference was found in the total alkaloid at and above 2 370 m, with all values exceeding 0.07%. In conclusion, moderately lowering the cultivation altitude to the range of 2 370-3 080 m can extend the growing season, improve vegetative growth, and enhance bulb biomass accumulation without compromising key medicinal component content, thus representing a suitable and recommended range for the artificial cultivation of F. unibracteata.

Key words: medicinal plant, phenology, morphological characteristics, altitude gradient, artificial planting

XU Bo, YANG Zi-Song, LI Bo, SHI Fu-Sun. Altitudinal effects on functional traits and medicinal components of the endangered species Fritillaria unibracteata[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2025, 49(12): 2137-2148.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2025.0253

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2025/V49/I12/2137

Figures/Tables 6

References 47

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地点 Location	海拔 Altitude (m)	坡向 Aspect	经纬度 Latitude and longitude	5 cm深处土壤温度(平均值±标准差) Soil temperature at 5 cm depth (mean ± SD)
				生长季(2019和2020年4-9月) Growing season (April to Sept. of year 2019 and 2020)			非生长季(2019年10月至2020年3月) Non growing season (Oct. 2019 to March 2020)
				白天 Day (07:00-19:00)	夜间 Night (19:00-07:00)	温差 ΔT	白天 Day (07:00-19:00)	夜间 Night (19:00-07:00)	温差 ΔT
松潘县卡卡山 Kaka Mountain, Songpan County	3 410	西南 Southwest	103.85° E, 32.99° N	11.27 ± 3.83	9.19 ± 3.78	4.20 ± 2.87	3.83 ± 5.90	0.87 ± 5.60	3.11 ± 2.11
松潘县川主寺镇 Chuanzhusi Town, Songpan County	3 080	西南 Southwest	103.65° E, 32.80° N	13.25 ± 4.13	11.29 ± 3.80	2.44 ± 1.70	4.69 ± 5.97	3.30 ± 5.33	1.39 ± 2.35
茂县飞虹乡 Feihong Country, Mao County	2 370	西南 Southwest	103.73° E, 31.76° N	15.66 ± 3.42	14.50 ± 3.20	1.54 ± 1.23	6.83 ± 5.64	6.02 ± 5.06	0.81 ± 1.13
茂县飞虹乡 Feihong Country, Mao County	1 780	西南 Southwest	103.72° E, 31.78° N	17.54 ± 3.03	15.86 ± 3.53	2.90 ± 3.12	8.62 ± 5.83	7.51 ± 5.23	1.11 ± 1.29
汶川县水磨镇 Shuimo Town, Wenchuan County	1 170	西南 Southwest	103.44° E, 30.92° N	19.34 ± 3.03	17.78 ± 3.06	2.13 ± 1.98	10.46 ± 5.76	9.36 ± 5.31	1.10 ± 0.86

地点 Location	海拔 Altitude (m)	坡向 Aspect	经纬度 Latitude and longitude	5 cm深处土壤温度(平均值±标准差) Soil temperature at 5 cm depth (mean ± SD)
				生长季(2019和2020年4-9月) Growing season (April to Sept. of year 2019 and 2020)			非生长季(2019年10月至2020年3月) Non growing season (Oct. 2019 to March 2020)
				白天 Day (07:00-19:00)	夜间 Night (19:00-07:00)	温差 ΔT	白天 Day (07:00-19:00)	夜间 Night (19:00-07:00)	温差 ΔT
松潘县卡卡山 Kaka Mountain, Songpan County	3 410	西南 Southwest	103.85° E, 32.99° N	11.27 ± 3.83	9.19 ± 3.78	4.20 ± 2.87	3.83 ± 5.90	0.87 ± 5.60	3.11 ± 2.11
松潘县川主寺镇 Chuanzhusi Town, Songpan County	3 080	西南 Southwest	103.65° E, 32.80° N	13.25 ± 4.13	11.29 ± 3.80	2.44 ± 1.70	4.69 ± 5.97	3.30 ± 5.33	1.39 ± 2.35
茂县飞虹乡 Feihong Country, Mao County	2 370	西南 Southwest	103.73° E, 31.76° N	15.66 ± 3.42	14.50 ± 3.20	1.54 ± 1.23	6.83 ± 5.64	6.02 ± 5.06	0.81 ± 1.13
茂县飞虹乡 Feihong Country, Mao County	1 780	西南 Southwest	103.72° E, 31.78° N	17.54 ± 3.03	15.86 ± 3.53	2.90 ± 3.12	8.62 ± 5.83	7.51 ± 5.23	1.11 ± 1.29
汶川县水磨镇 Shuimo Town, Wenchuan County	1 170	西南 Southwest	103.44° E, 30.92° N	19.34 ± 3.03	17.78 ± 3.06	2.13 ± 1.98	10.46 ± 5.76	9.36 ± 5.31	1.10 ± 0.86