Describe the phenomenon of photoperiodism
The effect of photoperiods or day duration of light hours (and dark periods) on the growth and development of plants, especially flowering, is called photoperiodism. On the basis of photoperiodic response to flowering, plants have been divided into the following categories: Short-day plants: They flower when the photoperiod or day length is below a critical period. Most winter flowering plants belong to this category, e.g., Xanthium, Chrysanthemum, rice, sugarcane, etc. Long-day plants: These plants flower when they receive long photoperiods or light hours which are above a critical length, e.g., wheat, oat, sugar beet, spinach, radish, barley, etc. Day-neutral plants: There are many plants, however, where there is no such correlation between exposure to the light duration and induction of flowering response; such plants are called day-neutral plants e.g. tomato, cucumber, etc.
