Accidental experiment, short Forsythia branches.

[Spinnor]

In a kitchen window I placed two Forsythia branches, which outside are some weeks away from blossoming, in a glass of water. One branch angled towards the window and the other angled away from the window. After flowering the branch that was angled towards the window sprouted leaves next to the dying flower near the top of the branch. On the other branch which got roughly uniform light leaves sprouted at nearly every dying group flowers.

Is this some very basic fact of plant biology? Does the intensity of the light striking the branch determine where the plant invests its energy into making energy?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Spinnor]

Pictures are at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/andyeverett57/Forsythia#

 

[Ouabache]

If you wish to test your hypothosis, "Does the intensity of the light striking the branch influence where leaves grow", I would first repeat your experiment (i.e. using same design, can you duplicate this effect)

While waiting on the second experiment, you may gain insight was to what is happening by reading up on areas of plant physiology that discuss environmental variables (light intensity), endogenous hormones (e.g. auxin, cytokinin), and meristematic growth (e.g. apical dominance).