Abstract
BENZOYL oxide and benzoyl peroxide, as I have found, can now be added to the list of chemicals which act on plant growth like the natural hormone, auxin. Benzoyl oxide, when applied in lanoline at concentration 1 in 200 to ten dark-grown decapitated oat coleoptiles along one side, caused negative curves the mean of which was 50° after 4¼ hours at 19° C. The peroxide applied similarly caused negative curves the mean of which was 31°. Thus both substances accelerated growth strongly. At 1 in 2,000 in lanoline, the benzoyl oxide caused slight negative curves of about 5°, and comparison with the curves caused by very dilute hetero-auxin in lanoline showed that the activity of benzoyl oxide is very roughly equal to 1/400 of that of hetero-auxin. The oxide keeps well in lanoline, but the peroxide loses its activity in a few hours.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Mém. Soc. Roy. Sci. Liége, (4), 1, fasc. 2–3 (1936).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SNOW, R. Two New Chemical Plant Growth Substances. Nature 139, 27 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139027a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139027a0
This article is cited by
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.