The effect of potassium salts on the anatomy of Dactylis glomerata

Abstract

Stems of Dactylis glomerata were collected from grass-plots which had received different manurial treatment as regards potash.The yield of hay from these plots was in close agreement with the average which shows that the season during which the work was done was not abnormal.The thickness of the wall, the diameter of the lumina and the ratio of the lumen to the wall were measured both in sclerenchyma and metaxylem elements.It was found that in the early stages the sclerenchyma walls were thinner where potash had been supplied, but that this effect was lost as the season progressed.The lumina were larger in plants which had received potash, when nitrogenous fertilisers had not been added, but in the presence of ammonium salts, this effect was reversed.In the xylem the thickness of the walls was unaltered whether potassic fertiliser were added or not. When no nitrogenous manures were added the diameter of the lumen was decreased in the presence of potash, but when ammonium salts had been applied, the diameter was increased by the application of potassic fertilisers.