The Effect of Removing Florets or Shading the Ear of Barley on Production and Distribution of Dry Matter

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Abstract
Halving the number of florets per ear of barley shortly after the ears emerged increased the dry weight of the rest of the plant. The effect was greatest 17 days after the ears emerged, and until then the increase in weight of the shoot of the plant nearly equalled the decrease in ear weight. Later, when the shoots lost weight, the difference between shoots with 24 or 12 florets per ear disappeared, presumably because all the extra labile carbohydrate was lost by respiration. Unshaded plants or plants with shaded ears or shoots were affected similarly. Removing florets did not affect net assimilation rate although it slightly increased the rate of photosynthesis of the flag-leaf lamina between 10 and 17 days after the ear emerged. The weight of the rest of the plant was decreased by shading the ear. Shading decreased ear weight at all samplings. The effect was small, especially when florets were removed. Thus the size of the sink provided by the ear for carbohydrate affected the movement of carbohydrate from the shoot. This invalidates some of the methods used to estimate photosynthesis by the ear.

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