Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
As the stem ages and grows, changes occur that transform the surface of the stem into the bark. The epidermis is a layer of cells that cover the plant body, including the stems, leaves, flowers and fruits, that protects the plant from the outside world. In old stems the epidermal layer, cortex, and primary phloem become separated from the inner ...
Collenchyma cells are usually living, and have only a thick primary cell wall [6] made up of cellulose and pectin. Cell wall thickness is strongly affected by mechanical stress upon the plant. The walls of collenchyma in shaken plants (to mimic the effects of wind etc.), may be 40–100% thicker than those not shaken.
A plant cell wall was first observed and named (simply as a "wall") by Robert Hooke in 1665. [3] However, "the dead excrusion product of the living protoplast" was forgotten, for almost three centuries, being the subject of scientific interest mainly as a resource for industrial processing or in relation to animal or human health.
The polysaccharide components of plant cell walls are highly hydrophilic and thus permeable to water, whereas lignin is more hydrophobic. The crosslinking of polysaccharides by lignin is an obstacle for water absorption to the cell wall. Thus, lignin makes it possible for the plant's vascular tissue to conduct water efficiently. [15]
Epidermal cells are tightly linked to each other and provide mechanical strength and protection to the plant. Particularly, wavy pavement cells are suggested to play a pivotal role in preventing or guiding cracks in the epidermis. [4] The walls of the epidermal cells of the above-ground parts of plants contain cutin, and are covered with a cuticle.
Some of the outer cortical cells may contain chloroplasts, giving them a green color. They can therefore produce simple carbohydrates through photosynthesis. [4] In woody plants, the cortex is located between the periderm (bark) and the vascular tissue (phloem, in particular). It is responsible for the transportation of materials into the ...
The dark horizontal lines on silver birch bark are the lenticels. [1]A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of gymnosperms and dicotyledonous flowering plants. [2]
It is one of the plant's meristems – the series of tissues consisting of embryonic disk (incompletely differentiated) cells from which the plant grows. The function of cork cambium is to produce the cork, a tough protective material. [1] [2] Synonyms for cork cambium are bark cambium, peri-cambium and phellogen. Phellogen is defined as the ...