Abstract
THE latest results of M. Bert's researches into the growth of plants (see Comptes Rendus, vol. 87, p. 695, November 4), have led me to publish an observation which I made on the inner sheaths of young leaves this last spring. The spring before last I was struck with the crimson-like colour of these silky sheaths on many trees, whereas the young leaves they cover are of a tender green, and it naturally occurred to me that their purpose was not only to form a wrapper to the leaf, but also a coloured screen, which would allow the red rays of the spectrum to pass, and to a certain extent quench the blue rays. But I could not understand why the latter rays should be cut off, since they are highly actinic, and the leaves themselves are green. Last spring I carefully noted the tints of the leaf-sheaths of different trees, with the following results:—
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MUNRO, J. Leaf-Sheaths and the Growth of Plants. Nature 19, 147 (1878). https://doi.org/10.1038/019147a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/019147a0
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