Near-surface silica does not increase radiative heat dissipation from plant leaves
It has been suggested that plants are able to increase radiative heat dissipation from their leaves by depositing near-surface silica, in this way increasing emissivity of infrared radiation and lowering leaf temperature. In order to test this theory, we have compared emissivity and radiative dissipation over the mid-infrared range 2.5–22.3 lm of leaves of plants that accumulate silica and plants