Self‐thinning in Trifolium subterraneum not affected by cultivar shape

As it was thought that self‐thinning in crowded plant populations might be influenced by the shape of the plants involved, self‐thinning was examined in five cultivars of Trifolium subterraneum. The height of these cultivars is fixed after early growth, being determined mainly by petiole length which itself varies between cultivars. No detectable differences between cultivars were found, and it is argued that only wore considerable differences in shape than those reported here would have detectable effects. When plants can only grow radially but not in height, it is to be expected that log‐log self‐thinning curves would have a slope of ‐1, but these Trifolium populations had the – 3/2 slope usually found for species which exhibit continuous growth in height. This finding remains unexplained.