Delay in leaf flush associated with a heavy metal-enriched soil

During the spring of 1983, overwintering buds of white oak (Quercus alba L.) and red oak (Q. rubra L.) were monitored for date of budbreak. Leaf flush was monitored for chestnut oak (Q. prinus L.) and red maple (Acer rubrum L.), in addition to white and red oak. Two locations within a mixed hardwood forest region near Mineral, Virginia, were chosen as study sites. The two sites were homologous with the exception that one location, the mineralized site, contained anomalously high levels of Pb, Cu, and Zn with respect to the background site. A delayed budbreak of approximately 7 to 10 days and a concomitant leaf flush offset were observed over the mineralized site. This latter phenomenon can be readfly monitored using remote-sensing techniques and thus is a potentially exploitable tool in the remote detection of soil geochemical anomalies.