Two Categories of 13C/12C Ratios for Higher Plants

13C/12C ratios have been determined for plant tissue from 104 species representing 60 families. Higher plants fall into two categories, those with low δPDBI13C values (—24 to —34‰) and those with high δ 13C values (—6 to —19‰). Algae have δ 13C values of —12 to —23‰. Photosynthetic fractionation leading to such values is discussed.