Reviewed 06/2015; Originally published: 02/2001 / 2 pp. / To systematically monitor a young crop effectively, it is important to understand the fundamentals about counting and identifying nodes on the plant. A mainstem node is simply the point on the plant stalk where a joint with a side branch (either vegetative or fruiting branch) is formed. The basic point of reference for counting nodes on a cotton plant are the cotyledonary nodes. The cotylendonary leaves are the first two leaves to appear as the plant emerges through the soil after planting, and are actually the former halves of the seed itself. Therefore, the cotyledons form the first nodes on the mainstem of the plant and they are the only nodes which are directly opposite one another, or parallel. When counting mainstem nodes we use the cotyledon nodes as 0, then counting subsequent nodes up the mainstem toward the terminal of the plant.

The alluvial forms of the rivers that drain the Colorado Plateau are a product of the water and sediment load that tributaries deliver to the trunk streams. Where the Green and Colorado Rivers cross structural barriers, narrow canyons have been incised. In the steep terrain adjacent to many of these canyons debris flows occur in the catchment basins of tributaries and deliver coarse sediment to the mainstem river corridor. Over time, debris flow deposits have aggraded in trunk stream valleys and created landforms known as debris fans. The sizes of these debris fans are related to the accommodation space available for fan formation. Lithologic variation in the layer-cake stratigraphy of the Colorado Plateau has led to varying valley widths. Tributary catchment, debris fan, depositional site, and mainstem river characteristics are examined over the 156-kilometer reach of the Green River through Desolation and Gray Canyons. Desolation and Gray Canyons provide some of the widest valley widths and resultant debris fan areas on the Colorado Plateau.