THE 
HEW PHYTOIiOGIST. 
Vol. 4 . Nos. 5 & 6 . June 30 TH, 1905 . 
CURRENT INVESTIGATIONS IN ECONOMIC BOTANY 
(Continued from p. 78). 
By William G. Freeman. 
Sugar-Producing Plants. 
Sugars play an important part in the life-processes of plants, 
and the majority of the higher plants are, strictly speaking, sugar- 
producers. The sugar-producing plants of economic importance 
are those from which sucrose (saccharose or cane sugar) can be 
profitably obtained on a commercial scale. 
Many plants contain sucrose, but for one reason or another 
they are not utilized as sources of sugar, e.g. carrot and parsnip roots, 
many fruits, etc. Other plants are used in various parts of the world 
to supply sugar for local requirements, e.g. the Palmyra palm {Borassus 
flabelliformis ); the coconut palm ( Cocos nucifera ); the sugar palm 
(Arenga saccharifera) ; the date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera) ; Indian 
corn ( Zea Mais ); Sorghum sp.; and the sugar maples {Acer saccharinum, 
and other species. Finally there remain the sugarcane ( Saccharum 
officinarum ) and the sugar beet {Beta maritima) which furnish 
practically the whole of the sugar supply of the world. 
In the biennials such as the beet, carrot, and parsnip, the sugar 
forms the principal food-reserve of the plant and is accumulated in 
the roots during the first year’s growth, at the end of which period 
it is, under conditions of cultivation, appropriated by man. In 
the sugar cane, maize and sorghum the sugar is again the food 
reserve, but is stored in the stem, and thus obtainable without 
causing the death of the whole plant as is entailed in the beet-root. 
In the palms mentioned above and the sugar maples, the sugar may 
be intercepted, by appropriate methods of tapping, en route to 
points of vegetative activity, and the same individuals may yield 
their contribution of sugar for many years without receiving great 
