(Ferndinand Gustav) Julius von Sachs

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(Ferndinand Gustav) Julius von Sachs

1832-1897

German botanist who contributed much to the field of plant physiology. Sachs described how plant root hairs function and stated that absorbed water moves through tubes in plant walls without the aid of living cells. He demonstrated that chlorophyll is not diffused in plant tissue but contained in special cellular bodies (chloroplasts). He showed that starch results from the absorption of carbon dioxide and that starch is the first visible product of photosynthesis.