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High Root-Pressures in Palms

Abstract

DESPITE some impressive demonstrations of root-pressure1–3, ‘pumping’ or positive pressure is generally thought to be of little importance for the ascent of sap in trees. This is probably true for dicotyledons, but in ten species of palms at Calcutta I was able to detect and measure positive root-pressures throughout the year, sometimes enough to lift sap to heights exceeding those of the trees.

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References

  1. Hales, S., Vegetable Staticks (1727) [Some Apostles of Physiology (Waterlow and Sons, 1902)].

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  2. Merwin, H. E., and Lyon, H., Bot. Gaz., 48, 442 (1909).

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  3. White, P. R., Amer. J. Bot., 25, 223 (1938).

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  4. Bose, J. C., The Physiology of Ascent of Sap (Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1923).

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  5. Bose, J. C., The Motor Mechanism of Plants (Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1928).

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  6. Molisch, H., Bot. Z. (1902) (quoted by Bose).

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DAVIS, T. High Root-Pressures in Palms. Nature 192, 277–278 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/192277a0

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