Absorption and distribution of sodium, phosphorus, chlorine, calcium and zinc in some selected woody ornamentals

The foliar absorption and subsequent distribution of sodium, chlorine, calcium and zinc in one-year-old rooted cuttings ofForsythia intermedia ZABEL, and root absorption of phosphorus byTaxus cuspidata SIEB. and Zucc, was established. The percentage of the applied nutrient translocated out of the treated leaf was used as a criterion of mobility. Sodium and chlorine were found to be mobile, calcium immobile, and zinc slightly mobile. Less than one percent of the phosphorus applied to the shoots of both actively growing and semi-dormantTaxus cuspidata plants was recovered in the roots after a 12-day absorption-transport period. Six percent of the total phosphorus recovered in the tops was derived from a single soil application of a water soluble fertilizer (10–52–17) after 12 days, although, less than. 0.5 percent of the applied fertilizer phosphorus was absorbed.