"Kay" wrote in message
...
In article , datsy
writes


I've just done a Google image search on Aloe Vera and the images
that came
up included varieties which had the broad leaves and ones with long
spikes
at 90 deg. The image which seems to resemble mine is this one:
http://davarree.free.fr/Aloe.Vera.JPG

I've also had a look in the book mentioned above for other
possibilities to
get oxygen at night in my north-facing bedroom - seems as though
the snake
plant might be the one.

Aren't there lots of possibilities? Isn't this to do with
crassulacean
acid metabolism (because it was first discovered in the crassulas)
whereby a great many plants in arid regions have adopted a
metabolism
that allows them to do their photosynthesis in effect at night,

Impossible. {:-((

As I understand it, the stomata of these plants are closed during the
day and open during the night. At night CO2 is taken in and fixed
temporarily using malic acid. The actual photosynthesis, i.e. the use
of the previously absorbed CO2 to form starch (or is it sugar?) still
occurs during the day

so they
can shut down their stomata during the day and avoid losing water?
It's
a long, long time since I read about this.

Franz