Renewal bud traits determine spring phenology in perennial herbs

We measured the timing of spring growth and flowering pattern (first flowering day, day of peak growth, growth rate and flowering length) in a phylogenetically representative set of 243 species of temperate perennial herbs grown in semi-natural conditions of a botanical garden of Charles University in Prague. These phenological traits were linked with data on renewal bud traits (flower and leaf preformation, bud volume, and bud scale coverage differentiation) as proximate drivers of species phenology and with whole plant traits (plant height, belowground storage volume and bud bank traits) and analysed using non-phylogenetic and phylogenetic regression models and structural equation modelling.