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Silica in Medusahead

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Charles F. Swenson ,
Duane Le Tourneau  and
Lambert C. Erickson
Charles F. Swenson
Affiliation:
Agronomy Department, University of Idaho, presently Soil Scientist, Soil Conservation Service, Grangeville, Idaho
Duane Le Tourneau
Affiliation:
Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
Lambert C. Erickson
Affiliation:
Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
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Abstract

Collections of plants of medusahead, Elymus caput-medusae L., were made from natural infestations in Nez Perce County and Washington County in northern and southern Idaho, respectively. The ash and silica content (dry weight basis) decreased as the plant matured. The total ash of the entire plant contained from 72–89 per cent silica. Similar percentages of silica in ash were obtained in the culms, heads, and seeds of the plant. X-ray diffraction patterns and polarizing microscope examinations showed the mineral form of silica to be opal. Heavy deposition of silica was found in the barbs of awns, in the epidermis of the leaves, culms, glumes and seeds, and in strands beneath the epidermis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Weeds , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , January 1964 , pp. 16 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © 1964 Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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