LEACHING OF METABOLITES FROM FOLIAGE AND SUBSEQUENT REABSORPTION AND REDISTRIBUTION OF THE LEACHATE IN PLANTS

Abstract

Inorganic and organic metabolites, including carbohydrates, amino acids, and organic acids, may be leached from the foliage of 125 diverse plant species by the action of rain, dew, and mist. Ca 45 , P 32 , and Sr 89 absorbed by roots, and C 14 absorbed as C 14 O 2 by foliage were leached from squash leaves and were subsequently reabsorbed by the roots and translocated to the aboveground parts of several plant species. This phenomenon of nutrient recycling is apparently a widespread natural phenomenon and has implications in plant nutrition. Bean plants were grown through 1 complete generation on the leachates from squash leaves. Leaching and reabsorption of the leachates are important in the distribution of fallout products, in the stimulation and suppression of plants beneath the spread of other plants, in plant competition, and in the development of plant associations.