Some Quantitative Considerations in Iron Nutrition of Higher Plants

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Abstract
Several plant species were grown at different levels of Fe. Although sufficient absolute quantities of Fe were available, the plants suffered from Fe deficiencies. The minimum Fe concentration for healthy growth is higher than the thermodynamically possible saturation concentration. Hence the uptake of Fe in soils must occur other than from sparingly soluble ionic iron. The minimum iron concentration depended on the plant species, form of Fe, and the ratio to other nutrients, but the metabolic or internal requirement, as judged by Fe-chlorophyll relationships, is mostly independent of these factors. Fe deficient plants took up a relatively smaller amount of anions. This may be interpreted as evidence of or a function of Fe in N metabolism.