Colour-based estimation of rhizome age in Phragmites australis

The colour of different age groups of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel rhizomes was studied from April through October 2000 at approximately one-month intervals to propose a more efficient method to identify the rhizome age based on the Munsell colour-order system. Seven rhizome age-classes were recognized, from <1 to 6 years old, based on descriptions published in the scientific literature. During April and May sampling, spectral reflectance between 400 and 700 nm of different rhizome ages was measured at 10 nm intervals, using a spectral colorimeter. Rhizomes of different ages were assigned colours by selecting one/two shortest Euclidian distances between the mean spectral reflectance of each rhizome age category and the Munsell colours on the four-dimentional subspace, made by Principal Component Analysis of the spectral reflectance data of 1289 Munsell colours. The Munsell colour for new to six-year-old rhizomes changed from yellow to yellow-red, and the value decreased from new to six-year-old rhizomes, indicating a darkening with ageing. The age of rhizomes collected from April through October was estimated using the colour key, in addition to the age attribution based on branching hierarchy. Between 87% and 100% of the rhizomes attributed to a certain age class based on branching hierarchy were assigned to the same age class using colours during all sampling dates. There was a strong correlation (r = +0.96) between rhizome age estimated by branching hierarchy and colour. At each sampling, bulk density, an indicator of rhizome storage levels, measured as a verification of age identification, varied among the age categories indicating distinct differences in storage levels. These results confirmed that rhizomes of a specific age category could be assigned a distinct colour, which remains more or less unchanged throughout the growing season. Thus, colour can be used as a primary criterion in the estimation of the age of P. australis rhizomes.