Leaf Abscission Induced by the Iodide Ion.

In the course of biological screening for herbicidal activity in synthetic compounds, various organic iodide complexes had marked defoliating properties when applied to leguminous test plants. Simple iodides such as the salts of alkali metals also caused defoliation. Although this effect has been reported in the patent literature (4, 8), our present investigation was undertaken principally to learn more about some of the factors influencing iodide induced abscission as well as the relationship between this effect and the general problem of foliar abscission.