Abstract:A pot experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of decomposing leaf litter of camphor tree(Cinnamomum camphora) on growth and development of hot pepper(Capsicum annuum) and its progeny.The experiment consisted of four leaf litter treatments(25,50,75 and 100 g of camphor tree leaf litter were separately added to 10 kg of soil) and a control(free of leaf litter).Gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry(GC-MS) was used to identify and compare terpenes existed in the original and decomposed leaf litter.Results showed that:(1)Decomposing leaf litter of camphor tree inhibited the leaf number,leaf area,height and basal diameter of hot pepper sharply,and the inhibition rate increased with the increase of leaf litter.However,in the parallel trial,no significant differences were observed between hot pepper treated with decomposed leaf litter and plastic film in terms of growth status.(2)The numbers of buds,flowers and fruits were all suppressed when exposed to leaf litter during the observation period(45-76 d).Exponential equation was used to fit the budding,flowering and fructification dynamics of hot pepper,and showed that the first bud emerging day,first flower blooming day,and first fruit emerging day were 0.81,0.17 and 1.35 d later than that of control when exposed to 25 g leaf litter,respectively,and those were 4.69,5.78 and 6.27 d later than that of control when exposed to 50 g leaf litter,respectively.More visibly,75 g and 100 g leaf litter both delayed these parameters by more than 10 days.(3)The fruit production of a single plant was inhibited treated with decomposing leaf litter in spite of the doses,with a decreasing amplitude of 29.44%-61.29%,while the single fruit weight was suffered less from the leaf litter.(4)The addition of leaf litter exerted neither significant effect on the 1000-grain weight of the seeds produced by hot pepper,nor on the growth of the progeny.(5)Terpenes represented about 78.05% of the total constituents extracted,and after decomposition,the relative content of which decreased to 40.76%,and most importantly,their absolute peak area decreased to approximately 1% of that in the original sample.The present study revealed obvious suppressive effect of decomposing leaf litter of camphor tree on the vegetative and reproductive growth of the targeted plant.The allelochemicals,e.g.,Camphor and 1,8-cineole released during the decomposition process rather than the alteration of soil and water permeability due to the addition of leaf litter should be responsible for these results.