Manganese toxicity as indicated by visible foliar symptoms of Japanese white birch (Betula platyphylla var. japonica)

For the purpose of a field diagnosis of Mn toxicity, we showed the possibility of using visible foliar symptoms of Japanese white birch (Betula platyphylla var. japonica Hara) as indicator. To examine the relationship between the expression of visible symptoms and leaf Mn concentrations, white birch seedlings were grown under four different Mn levels: 1 mg Mn l−1 as control, 10, 50 and 100 mg Mn l−1. Foliar symptoms of Mn toxicity for white birch were: (1) chlorosis at entire young leaves in the 50 and 100 mg Mn l−1 treatments; and (2) brown speckles at the leaf marginal and interveinal area for old leaves in the treatments greater than 1 mg Mn l−1. Mn preferably accumulated into the leaf marginal and interveinal area, where the brown speckles were observed. The mechanism determining the expression of symptoms seems to be associated with the physiological state related to leaf age as well as Mn distribution and concentration within a leaf.