Abstract
The distribution of the carbohydrates in a plant and its seasonal change as influenced by burning, was studied by dyeing with I-KI solution and chemical analysis of Miscanthus sinensis. In general, the plant consumed reserves in rhizomes for the rapid growth of shoot in spring, and the newer the rhizome, the earlier was the consumption. When the internode began to elongate, the carbohydrate concentration both in culms and rhizomes reached the minimum. Culms accumulated starch mainly at their middle to basal parts, reaching the maximum soon after earing. Thereafter the carbohydrates of culms moved rapidly to rhizomes. After July, the rhizomes began to restore the carbohydrates, and the older the rhizome, the earlier was the accumulation. By burning, the carbohydrates in rhizomes were rapidly exhausted for regrowth and the restoring process was delayed as compared with that of the unburned plant. This trend was more remarkable when the burning was done later. However, even in the plant burnt latest at the end of June, the carbohydrate concentration both in culms and rhizomes attained the same level as that in the unburned plant by the end of autumn in the same year.
