A means of investigating the routes of water and carbohydrate translocation in plants by removing a ring of the outer tissues of the stem containing the phloem. This results in sufficient water still reaching the upper shoots to keep them turgid but photosynthetic products from the leaves are not translocated to regions below the ring and tend to accumulate above it. Such observations confirm that water is transported within * xylem and photosynthates within * phloem vessels, the former being undisturbed and the latter disrupted by the ringing process. |
