  We apply the giant branch slope-[Fe/H] relation derived by Kuchinski et al.
[AJ, 109, 1131 (1995)] to a sample of open clusters. We find that the slope of
the giant branch in K vs. (J-K) color-magnitude diagrams correlates with [Fe/H]
for open clusters as it does for metal-rich globular clusters but that the open
cluster data are systematically shifted to less negative values of giant branch
slope, at constant [Fe/H]. We use isochrone models to examine the theoretical
basis for this relationship and find that for a given value of [Fe/H], the
slope of the relationship remains constant with decreasing population age but
the relation shifts to less negative values of giant branch slope with
decreasing age. Both of these theoretical predictions agree with the trends
found in the data. Finally, we derive new coefficients for the giant branch
slope-[Fe/H] relation for specific members of 3 populations, metal-rich
globular clusters, bulge stars and open clusters.
