Abstract
IN the whole realm of biological science there is perhaps no phenomenon of greater fundamental importance than that exhibited by green plants in the transformation of carbon dioxide and water into starch and sugar. That this can only take place through the action of light upon chlorophyll is commonplace knowledge, but exactly how it is effected we do not know. Of the light that falls upon a green leaf a part is reflected from its surface, a part is transmitted, and another part is absorbed. That which is reflected and transmitted gives to the leaf its green colour; that which is absorbed, consisting of certain red, blue, and violet rays, is the source of the energy by means of which the leaf is enabled to carry on its work.
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Behaviour of Plants in Response to the Light 1 . Nature 96, 468–472 (1915). https://doi.org/10.1038/096468b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/096468b0