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A plant cuticle is a protecting film covering the outermost skin layer of leaves, young shoots and other aerial plant organs (aerial here meaning all plant parts not embedded in soil or other substrate) that have no periderm. The film consists of lipid and hydrocarbon polymers infused with wax, and is synthesized exclusively by the epidermal cells.
The cuticle reduces water loss to the atmosphere, it is sometimes covered with wax in smooth sheets, granules, plates, tubes, or filaments. The wax layers give some plants a whitish or bluish surface color. Surface wax acts as a moisture barrier and protects the plant from intense sunlight and wind. [5] Diagram of fine scale leaf internal anatomy
Upon entry of a pathogen, plants are vulnerable to infection and lose a fair amount of nutrients to said pathogen. The constitutive defenses are the physical barriers of the plant; including the cuticle or even the metabolites that act toxic and deter herbivores. Plants maintain an ability to sense when they have an injured area and induce a ...
Epicuticular wax is a waxy coating which covers the outer surface of the plant cuticle in land plants. It may form a whitish film or bloom on leaves, fruits and other plant organs. Chemically, it consists of hydrophobic organic compounds, mainly straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons with or without a variety of substituted functional groups ...
A plant which completes its life cycle (i.e. germinates, reproduces, and dies) within two years or growing seasons. Biennial plants usually form a basal rosette of leaves in the first year and then flower and fruit in the second year. bifid Forked; cut in two for about half its length. Compare trifid. bifoliate
There is no one universal method to cuticle analysis. Rather, it is the shared principle on which the applications are based which underpins the methodology—namely, that a well-preserved plant cuticle can, through the use of microscopy, yield information regarding the nature of the plant from which it originated, including its species and the environmental stresses acting upon it.
Sclerenchyma is the tissue which makes the plant hard and stiff. Sclerenchyma is the supporting tissue in plants. Two types of sclerenchyma cells exist: fibers cellular and sclereids. Their cell walls consist of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Sclerenchyma cells are the principal supporting cells in plant tissues that have ceased elongation.
Plant structures or organs fulfil specific functions, and those functions determine the structures that perform them. Among terrestrial (land) plants, the vascular and non-vascular plants (Bryophytes) evolved independently in terms of their adaptation to terrestrial life and are treated separately here (see Bryophytes ).