RESPONSES TO SALT STRESS OF 16 EUCALYPTUS SPECIES, GREVILLEA-ROBUSTA,LOPHOSTEMON-CONFERTUS AND PINUS-CARIBAEA VAR HONDURENSIS

Sixteen Eucalyptus species, Grevillea robusta, Lophostemon confertus a nd Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis were subjected to five saline solut ion treatments in a glasshouse experiment. The salt tolerance and morp hological responses including plant height; leaf length, width, thickn ess, and number of leaves of each species were examined. Salt toleranc es of the species varied greatly. Species performance in both survival and growth also changed considerably at different salinity levels. Of all the species studied, Eucalyptus drepanophylla, Eucalyptus argophl oia, Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Eucalyptus robusta were most toleran t to salt while Eucalyptus cloeziana and Eucalyptus pilularis were lea st tolerant. The responses of plant leaf number and height to salinity were indicative of tolerance to salt. Species with an ability to main tain a relatively large number of leaves and a relatively large height growth when subjected to salinity appeared likely to be more tolerant to salt.