XVI International Botanical Congess
In February 1991, the highest ever temperature (47?C), accompanied by hot winds, was recorded along the south coast of Western Australia. Within two weeks the leaves of many plants turned orange-brown, and numerous plants died, or died back and recovered later. We studied 50 species near Albany. Fire response, height, exposure to winds at the time and to bare sand, shadiness, proportion of shoots with heat damage, colour change, and extent of recovery, were assessed on 50 plants of each species. Five branchlets were analysed for leaf packing and physical properties. There was no simple relationship between exposure of the plants to the elements or of leaf properties that would give a confident prediction to the increasing likelihood of temperature extremes associated with the greenhouse effect in the future.