Abstract
SURFACE monomolecular films of cetyl alcohol (CH3(CH2)14CH2OH) have been shown to reduce losses by evaporation from open water surfaces1, and this application has had some successful use in Australia2. There recently appeared a report3 that the mixing of cetyl alcohol with the soil in which corn (Zea mays) plants were growing reduced their loss of water by transpiration by 40 per cent without reducing yield. If it was confirmed that some substance could be taken up by plants which reduced their water needs without impairing growth, such a finding would have great potential agricultural importance. It was therefore decided to repeat Roberts's experiment on a pot scale, measuring the effects of cetyl alcohol on growth, transpiration rate and photosynthetic capacity.
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References
Langmuir, I., and Langmuir, D. B., J. Phys. Chem., 31, 1719 (1927).
Mansfield, W. W., Nature, 175, 247 (1955).
Roberts, W. J., J. Geophys. Res., 66, 3309 (1961).
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NEALES, T., KRIEDEMAN, P. Reduction of Plant Transpiration by Cetyl Alcohol. Nature 195, 1221–1222 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/1951221a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1951221a0
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