Table 4.

Summary of the predictor variables significantly related to the number of leaf primordia per bud (dependent variable) of sample II, as selected in three steps of a stepwise regression

	Step
	1	2	3
Slope	–1·9	–0·1	–0·2
Bud diameter
Slope	4·4	3·9	3·3
t	30·6	29·5	13·3
Bud position
Slope		–0·15	–0·16
t		–12·3	–12·7
Bud length
Slope			0·57
t			3·2
r 2	0·64	0·72	0·73

For each regression analysis, the regression coefficient (slope) and the student’s t‐ratio of each independent variable and the coefficient of determination of the regression (r²) are indicated.