I am learning the value of hard work, and my mentor has given me great advice and taught me how to deal with situations when the research doesn t always progress in the direction I thought it would. Junior John McKay has a double major in microbiology and cell science. He is from Boca Raton and works at an animal hospital several days a week. He is involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Campus Crusades. Ludwigia collected from a low CO2 spring do not flower, but Ludwigia from the high CO2 population flowers and produces seeds.
Preliminary data indicate that gibberellic acid treatment can induce flowering.
Variations in flowering and seed production will be documented under different growth conditions of photoperiod and submersion and emergence. Seed germination will be tested under aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the light and dark to determine how Ludwigia propagates sexually in the natural springs.