The Chemical Nature of Silica in Plants.

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Petrographic microscope studies show that the silica deposited in Sorghum subglabrascens, Triticum vulgare, Zea mays, Helianthus annuus, and cane of Bambusaceae is opal. These studies show that silica inLantana camara is composed of both opal and a quartz. By means of spodograms and microscopic examinations, the actual patterns and particle sizes of the silica deposits in these plants were determined. A type of subepidermal deposition apparently not reported in the literature was observed in the leaf blades of S. subglabrascens and Z. mays. The leaf blade margins of S. subglabrascens, T. vulgare and Z. mays are silicified. In the sorghum the leaf blade margin is serrated and the serration becomes more distinct with age. Marked deposition of silica occurs in the serrated margins of the sorghum leaves before much deposition occurs in the blade proper. Long silica rods were observed in the internal tissue of the nodes of bamboo cane. In Lantana camara and H. annus, the cell walls are not silicified and the spodograms did not show a pattern other than the shape of the individual particles. In the lantana the prickle-shaped trichomes are silicified.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: