A survey of 17 C4 and 17 C3 species of higher plants was made in two experiments to determine differences in the percentage of 14C‐assimilate translocated in 6 hours. Leaves were labeled for 15 min with 14CO2 in the light. In one experiment net photosynthesis was also determined on leaves labeled with 14C. C4 plants exported more, and C3 species less, than 49% of the assimilated 14C in 6 hours. There were only four exceptions to this division in 49 means reported. These exceptions were cases where C4 species translocated less than 49% of the labeled assimilate. The C4/C3 ratios for translocation percentages were 1.55 and 1.67 for the two experiments. The C4/C3 ratio for net photosynthesis was 1.44. The correlation between net photosynthesis and translocation had a significant (P < 0.05) but not a high coefficient (r = 0.59). It is concluded that although net photosynthesis and percentage of 14C assimilate export are related, some other factors also play significant roles which affect this relationship.
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Stephenson et al. (1976) studied this question.