Effects of drought stress on physiological characteristics ofwild Dichondra repens in the Southwest China

Abstract: Five wild Dichondra repens from Sichuan and Guizhou province and an introduced D. repens from USA were selected to determine the effects of drought stress on physiological characteristics of D. repens by a pot experiment. This study indicated that the increasing drought stress reduced the relative water content and chlorophyll content of leaves and increased the content of malondialdehye and free proline. The drought resistant materials showed a higher leaf water retention capacity, Chl content and a lower content of MDA, free proline.