MECHANISM OF ROOT-CONTRACTION IN BRODIAEA LACTEA

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Abstract
The contractile roots of B. lactea described by Smith show similarities to those of Oxalis incarnata described by the author. In neither plant can any tissue be found which has the continuity essential to an active contractile tissue. The stele is distorted by longitudinal compression produced by contraction due to the collapse of transverse zones of cells in the storage parenchyma. Since these cells, at least in O. incarnata, have lost their protoplasm the water and solutes are assumed to be removed by adjacent cells. The resulting pressure, equalling the suction pressure of these adjacent cells, produces the collapse of the thinner cells and the distortion of the more resistant tissues of the stele.

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