Main Parts of Primary Dicot Stem in Plants (With Diagram), Schemes and Mind Maps of Botany

Download Main Parts of Primary Dicot Stem in Plants (With Diagram) and more Schemes and Mind Maps Botany in PDF only on Docsity! EDU 246,BOTANY Main Parts of Primary Dicot Stem in Plants (With Diagram) The following points highlight the eight main parts of primary dicot stem in plants. The parts are: 1. Epidermis 2. Hypodermis 3. General Cortex 4. Endodermis 5. Pericycle 6. Vascular Strand 7. Medullary or Pith Rays 8. Pith or Medulla. Dicot Stem: Part # 1. Epidermis: Epidermis is the outermost layer of the stem. It is made up of compactly arranged elongated parenchymatous cells, which look rectangular-barrel shaped in a transverse section. The cells are transparent and devoid of chloroplasts. The outer walls are convex, thickened and cutinised. On the outer side they possess a layer of cuticle. The internal walls of the epidermal cells are thin. The radial walls are thick towards the outer side and gradually become thin towards the inner side. Pits occur in the radial walls. The epidermis of Sunflower stem bears several un-branched multicellular hair or trichomes. Like epidermis, they are covered by cuticle. At places the epidermis contains minute pores called stomata or stomata’s. Each stomate or stoma (sing, of stomata) has a pair of specialised kidney shaped cells called guard cells. The guard cells have a few chloroplasts. By their swelling, the two guard cells can form a pore in between them. The various functions of the epidermis are: (i) Protection of internal tissues, (ii) Prevention of entry of harmful organisms, (iii) Minimising surface transpiration by having thick cuticle, (iv) Exchange of gases through the stomata, (v) Protection against excessive heating up and sudden changes in temperature with the help of hair (as in Sunflower). The tissue between epidermis and pericycle is called Cortex. It has three parts hypodermis, general cortex and endodermis. Dicot Stem: Part # 2. Hypodermis: The hypodermis is made of 3-4 layered sub-epidermal collenchyma tissue. Its cells possess extra cellulose thickening in various regions— on the tangential walls (lamellate collenchyma, e.g., Sunflower), at the angles (angular collenchyma, e.g., Castor) and near the intercellular spaces (lacunate collenchyma, e.g., Cucurbita). Collenchyma cells are green and enclose small intercellular spaces. Hypodermis functions in: (i) Providing mechanical strength as well as, flexibility, (ii) Storage of food and (iii) Manufacture of food with the help of chloroplasts. Hypodermis is absent or inconspicuous below the stomata. Dicot Stem: Part # 3. General Cortex: It is a few to several cells in thickness. The cortex is made up of thin walled angular (e.g., Castor), oval or rounded (e.g., Sunflower) parenchymatous cells. They enclose intercellular spaces. In the young green stem, the outer cortical cells possess chloroplasts (chlorenchyma) and manufacture food. However, major function of the cortex is storage of food. In Sunflower the cortex contains a number of longitudinally running oil ducts. Each oil duct has a channel which is lined by an epithelium of small glandular cells. Dicot Stem: Part # 4. Endodermis: narrow elements) and larger meta-xylem (of broader elements). Protoxylem or first formed xylem lies at the tip of meta-xylem towards the pith or centre of stem. Therefore, xylem is endarch (development centrifugal). Xylem consists of tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibres. Out of these only the xylem parenchyma cells are living. They are smaller in size than the parenchyma cells found outside the bundles. Xylem parenchyma cells store food and help in the lateral conduction of the sap. Vessels are present in the form of a few radial rows. They are angular in outline. The vessels of the protoxylem region are smaller and possess annular or spiral thickenings. These thickenings make the protoxylem vessels elastic and capable of stretching during the elongation of stem. The vessels of meta-xylem have pitted thickenings. Tracheids are present in between and around the radial rows of vessels especially of the meta-xylem region. Xylem fibres lie scattered amongst the tracheids. The vessels, tracheids and xylem fibres, all provide mechanical strength to the stem. However, the most important function of xylem is the conduction of water and mineral substances. This is carried out by two tracheary elements, vessels and tracheids. (c) Cambium: It is the left out portion of pro-cambium. Cambium is in the form of a narrow strip of primary meristematic cells that lie between the phloem and the xylem of a vascular bundle. It is called intra- fascicular or fascicular cambium. Cambial cells are thin- walled fusiform cells which appear rectangular in transverse section. Cambium helps in increasing the girth of stem by producing secondary phloem towards outside and secondary xylem towards the inner side (secondary growth). Dicot Stem: Part # 7. Medullary or Pith Rays: They are the radial strips of parenchyma which are present between adjacent vascular bundles. The medullary rays connect the pith with pericycle and cortex. The ray cells are larger than cortical cells. They are polygonal in outline. Intercellular spaces are small. Ray cells make intimate contact with the conducting cells of both phloem and xylem through pits. The medullary rays help in the radial conduction of food and water. They also transport gases from pith to cortex and vice versa. Dicot Stem: Part # 8. Pith or Medulla: It forms the centre of the stem. The pith is made up of polygonal oval or rounded parenchyma cells which enclose intercellular spaces. The pith cells store food. In some dicots, the central part of the pith disintegrates to produce a cavity (pith cavity), e.g., Cucurbita. Primary Dicot Root in Sunflower The following points highlight the six main parts of primary dicot root in plants. The parts are: 1. Epiblema 2. Cortex 3. Endodermis 4. Pericycle 5. Vascular Strand 6. Pith. Dicot Root: Part # 1. Epiblema or Piliferous Layer (Rhizodermis): It is the outermost layer of the root. It is made of compactly arranged thin-walled flattened and slightly elongated parenchymatous cells. Epiblema of root differs from the epidermis of stem in being devoid of distinct cuticle and stomata. Some cells of the epiblema give rise to thin-walled tubular outgrowths called root hairs. They are called trichoblasts. Trichoblasts are generally smaller than other epiblema cells. The root hairs lie in between the soil particles and are in contact with the soil water. Root hairs possess a gummy pectic layer on the outside for cementing with soil particles and retaining water on the surface. Due to the presence of root hairs, the epiblema is also called piliferous layer (L. pilus— hair, ferre— to carry). The root hairs and thin- walled epiblema cells absorb water and minerals salts from the soil. Root hairs commonly do not live for more than one week. With their death the epiblema cells become suberized and cutinised. Dicot Root: Part # 2. Cortex. It lies below the epiblema. The cortex is made up of many layers of thin walled parenchyma cells. The parenchyma cells may be rounded (e.g., Cicer) or angular (e.g., Sunflower). They enclose intercellular spaces for diffusion of gases. The cells of the cortex store food. They also conduct water from the epiblema to the inner tissues. Dicot Root: Part # 3. Endodermis: Endodermis is usually considered to be the innermost layer of the cortex. It is made up of a single layer of barrel-shaped cells which do not enclose intercellular spaces. The cells are rich in starch grains. The young endodermal cells possess a band of thickening which runs along their radial and tangential walls. This band of thickening is called casparian strip (after Caspary, 1865). It is made up of both suberin and lignin (Esau, 1965).