Nutrition
Allium sativum makes its own foods just like other
photosynthetic organisms. It uses the
chlorophyll in its leaves to produce sugar, normally in the form of
sucrose of glucose, and then
will send them down to the roots. It transports the sugar down the stem
through the phloem. The
phloem actually pushes the sugar all the way down to the roots. Gravity
assists in transport
down, but is not the soul reason for the sugar going down the stem.
Water is transport the opposite way the sugar is. Water
is transported up from the roots, but
really it is pulled up. The factors involved in pulling the water up to
the leaves from the roots are
transpiration, cohesion, adhesion and tension. These four factors all take
place in the xylem and
are strictly related to the movement of water.
Now there are many organisms that retain nutrients and
Allium sativum is not an exception.
The bulb at the bottom of the stem contains excess nutrients that the
plant has stored up. We
know this to be the delicious garlic we eat in many dishes.
The image to the left shows a field of Allium sativum.
The stems and leaves are all visible in
the field while the bulbs are not. A few of the bulbs have been pulled off
and are visible in the
image.
If
you have any questions, comments, or found any errors, please email me at
gallant.kirk@students.uwlax.edu.