Rhizomes are horizontal stems that grow beneath the ground, but near the surface of the soil. They resemble roots but are actually modified stems with scale-like leaves and buds at each axillary node. In addition, adventitious roots are produced along…
These plants are usually grass or grass-like and do not grow to great size. Monocot stems do not have vascular cambiums or cork cambiums, as growth will not be lateral. The vascular bundles produced by the procambium are scattered throughout…
Wood is essentially secondary xylem growth. These stems look similar to herbaceous dicot stems up until the vascular cambium and the cork cambium start functioning. The differences are then quite obvious. While some tropical trees demonstrate year-round secondary growth, most…
Herbaceous refers to non-woody plants. Plants that die after going from seed to maturity are called annuals. In general, most monocots are annuals, but there are annual dicot plants as well. Annual dicots are mostly composed of primary tissues, although…
In the study of plants, understanding the different tissue patterns is essential. Monocot stem vs. dicot stem. (Image credit: CNX OpenStax, CC BY-SA 4.0) Steles Steles are a central cylinder in most younger stems and roots, composed of primary xylem, phloem,…
Recall that the apical meristem is responsible for vertical growth, or increase in the length of a stem. Prior to the start of the growing season, the cells in the apical meristem are dormant. The apical meristem is protected at…
A woody twig, or stem, is an axis with leaves attached. The leaves are arranged in various ways around and on the axis. You may hear them described as an alternate, or alternately arranged, opposite or oppositely arranged, or if…
In woody plants, when the cork cambium begins to produce new tissues to increase the girth of the stem or root the epidermis is sloughed off and replaced by a periderm. The periderm is made of semi-rectangular and boxlike cork…
The epidermis is also a complex plant tissue, and an interesting one at that. Officially, the epidermis is the outermost layer of cells on all plant organs (roots, stems, leaves). The epidermis is in direct contact with the environment and…
Phloem is an equally important plant tissue as it also is part of the ‘plumbing’ of a plant. Primarily, phloem carries dissolved food substances throughout the plant. This conduction system is composed of sieve-tube member and companion cells, that are…