Distribution of Tartaric Acid in the Geraniaceae

S tafford , H elen A. (Reed Coll., Portland, Oregon.) Distribution of tartaric acid in the Geraniaceae. Amer. Jour. Bot. 48(8): 699–701. 1961.—The leaves of 52 species in the family Geraniaceae have been analyzed quantitatively for (+) — tartaric acid. All 11 species studied in the genus Geranium and 9 in Erodium are low or non‐accumulators (less than 0.1 μmole tartaric acid per mg dry wt of tissue). In the genus Pelargonium , 9 species are low or non‐accumulators, while 23 are high accumulators (greater than 0.1 μmole tartaric acid per mg dry wt of tissue). There is no sharp line separating accumulators from non‐accumulators, but rather a continuous gradation in the amount of tartaric acid accumulated, ranging from amounts loo low to be detected up to 1 μmole of tartaric acid per mg dry wt of tissue. The degree of accumulation in leaves cannot yet be correlated with any morphological or physiological differences, nor is it always consistent with the taxonomic sections of Knuth or the groups of Moore.