498 
Delf. — Transpiration and Behaviour of 
TABLE X 
Surface Absorption in certam Halophytes and Me sophy tes . 
Withering. 
Absorbing ( during immersion ). 
Plant. 
Time. 
Eresh 
Weight. 
Loss. 
Loss %. 
Time. 
Gain. 
Percentage of 
Loss recovered. 
Snaeda 
maritima 
(i) 
3 hrs. 
0.39 1 grm. 
o-oio grm. 
3 
2 hrs. 
0.029 g rm - 
290 
(2) 
24 „ 
0-55 2 „ 
0*095 „ 
17 
15 >* 
0.018 ,, 
20 
(3) 
63 „ 
0*297 „ 
0.105 „ 
35 
9 » 
0.027 „ 
26 
Atriplex 
portulacoides 
0-283 „ 
(i) 
6 „ 
0.039 „ 
14 
j 12 „ 
0.024 » 
61 
( 15 »> 
0.028 ,, 
(2) 
27 » 
0.052 „ 
130 
2 ” 
1*035 >» 
0*007 „ 
°-7 
2 „ 
0.029 „ 
400 
Arenaria 
peploides 
17 „ 
o-39 3 » 
0.070 „ 
2 
5 7 „ 
0.070 „ 
100 
\ 14 „ 
0.105 » 
21 „ 
o-i75 
250 
Sedum album 
(i) 
8 „ 
0.246 „ 
0-016 ,, 
7 
10 „ 
0.019 „ 
120 
(2) 
12 „ 
0.265 » 
0.030 „ 
H 
15 „ 
0.031 „ 
100 
Rumex 
2 „ 
2*765 „ 
0*309 „ 
1 1 
4§ 55 
0.282 „ j 
90 
Tropaeolum 
Plantago 
2 „ 
1.118 ,, 
0*113 „ 
10 
4l„ ! 
0-141 „ 
50 
lanceolata 
(0 
2 „ 
0-488 ,, 
27 
0*180 ,, 
0*131 „ j 
In >> 1 
0.058 ,, 
(2) 
0*289 „ 
J 5i » I 
0.238 „ 
182 
12 „ 
0.219 „ 1 
75 
15 » j 
0.129 „ 
59 
All these plants show a considerable power of surface absorption , 1 and 
moreover, after immersion, the weight of the shoot is frequently greater 
than the initial fresh weight. Yet in every case freshly-gathered and 
apparently turgid shoots or leaves were used, and in the six succulent 
types, and in Plantago lanceolata among the mesophytes, it is almost im- 
possible to tell at the moment of gathering whether or not the leaves are 
turgid at the beginning of the experiment. Plantago lanceolata is not itself 
a halophyte, but it comes very near to P. coronopus and P. maritima , 
which are typically marine ; and perhaps P . lanceolata is itself a facultative 
halophyte. At least it appears that halophytes possess a considerable 
range in their normal water content, and a power of absorption over the 
green surface which in nature is probably capable of supplementing the root 
absorption by the utilization of rain 2 and the standing water often found in 
a salt marsh. 
1 Cp. Pfeffer, W. (’00) : Physiology of Plants, English Edition, vol. i, p. 160. 
2 Cp. LundstrOm, A. N. (’84) : Die Anpassungen der Pflanzen an den Regen und den Thau. 
Henslow, Rev. Geo. (’08) : The Absorption of Rain and Dew by Green Parts of Plants. 
