HMM/SCM1414-Biology 1

5.6 THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF

PLANT TISSUES

5.6.1 TYPES OF MERISTEM

• Most plants shows indeterminate

growth, growing as long as it lives.
• In contrast, most animals and certain
plant organs, such as flowers and leaves,
undergo determinate growth, ceasing –
stop - to grow after they reach a certain
size.

• Plant capable of indeterminate growth

because it has embryonic tissues called
meristems in its regions of growth.
○ Meristem cells divide to generate

additional cells.
○ Some remain in meristematic region.

○ Others become specialized and

incorporated into tissues and organs of

growing plant.
○ Cells that remain as source of new cells

in meristem are called initials.

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○ Cells displaced from meristem,

derivatives, continue to divide for some
time until the cells they produce
differentiate within developing tissues.

• Pattern of plant growth depends

on the location of meristems.

• Two major types of meristems

(i) Apical Meristem

○ Located at tips of roots & in buds of shoots
○ Supply cells for plant to grow in length.
○ This elongation, primary growth, enables
roots to extend through soil and shoots to
increase their exposure to light and CO2.
○ In herbaceous plants, primary growth
produces almost all of plant body.

(ii) Lateral Meristems

(Cambium)
○ Add thickness to woody plants, a process
called secondary growth (progressive
thickening of roots and shoots where
primary growth has ceased.)
○ Two lateral meristems: vascular
cambium and cork cambium.

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○ Vascular cambium adds layers of vascular

tissue called secondary xylem (wood) and
secondary phloem.

○ Cork cambium replaces epidermis with

periderm, which is thicker and tougher.

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5.6.2 PLANT CELL TYPES

Three Tissue Systems:

1. Dermal - epidermis,
2. Vascular-Xylem + Phleom , and
3. Ground- Parenchyma,collenchyma
(See Figure 35.8, Campbell, page 717)

• Each system is continuous throughout

plant body.

(1) Dermal Tissue

• Outer covering.
• In non-woody plants, it is a single layer of
tightly packed cells, or epidermis that
covers and protects all young parts of
plant.
• Epidermis has other specialized
characteristics consistent with function of
organ it covers.
○ Example:

 Root hairs - extensions of epidermal

cells near root tips.

 Cuticle – waxy coating secreted by

epidermis of leaves and most stems -

helps aerial parts of plant retain water.

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• In woody plants, protective tissues called

periderm replace epidermis in older
regions of stems and roots.

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(2) Vascular Tissue

• Continuous throughout plant - involved in

transport of materials between roots and
shoots.
• The two types of vascular tissues:
(i) Xylem
○ Conveys water and dissolved

minerals upward from roots into

shoots.
(ii) Phloem
○ Transports food (organic nutrients)

made in mature leaves to roots; to

non-photosynthetic parts of shoot
system; and to sites of growth, such
as developing leaves and fruits.
• Vascular tissue of a root or stem is called
the stele.
○ In angiosperms, stele of root forms a

solid central vascular cylinder.

○ The stele of stems and leaves is divided

into vascular bundles, strands

consisting of xylem and phloem.

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(3) Ground Tissue

• Tissue that is neither dermal nor vascular

tissue.
○ In eudicot stems, ground tissue divided

into pith, internal to vascular tissue, and

cortex, external to the vascular tissue.
○ Functions - photosynthesis, storage, and

support.
○ Example, the cortex of a eudicot stem

has both fleshy storage cells and thick-

walled support cells.

• Some major types of plant cells:

(See Figure 35.8, Campbell, page 718 – 719)

(a) Parenchyma
(b) Collenchyma
(c) Sclerenchyma
(d) Water-conducting cells of the xylem
(e) Sugar-conducting cells of the
phloem

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(a) Parenchyma

• Primary wall relatively thin and

flexible
• Most lack secondary wall.
○ Protoplast usually has large central

vacuole.
○ Often depicted as “typical” plant cells

because they generally are the least

specialized, but there are exceptions.
○ For example, highly specialized sieve-

tube members of phloem are parenchyma

cells.
• Perform most of metabolic functions of
plant, synthesizing and storing various
organic products.
○ For example, photosynthesis occurs

within chloroplasts of parenchyma cells

in leaf.
○ Some parenchyma cells in stems and

roots have colorless plastids that store

starch.
○ Fleshy tissue of most fruit is composed of

parenchyma cells.
• Most parenchyma cells retain
ability to divide and differentiate into other
cell types under special conditions, such as

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repair & replacement of organs after injury

to plant.
○ Possible to regenerate entire plant from

single parenchyma cell in lab.

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/groundtsa.jpg

(b) Collenchyma

• Thicker primary walls than parenchyma

cells.
• Walls unevenly thickened.
○ Grouped into strands or cylinders,

collenchyma cells help support young

parts of plant shoot.
○ Young stems and petioles often have

strands of collenchyma just below

epidermis, providing support without
restraining growth.

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○ Mature collenchyma cells are living and

flexible and elongate with stems and
leaves they support.

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/groundtsb.jpg

(c) Sclerenchyma

• Have thick secondary walls usually

strengthened by lignin and function as
supporting elements of plant.
○ Much more rigid than collenchyma cells.

○ Unlike parenchyma cells, they cannot

elongate.
○ Occur in plant regions that have stopped

lengthening.
• Many are dead at maturity, but they
produce rigid secondary cells walls before
protoplast dies.

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○ In parts of plant that are still elongating,

secondary walls are deposited in a spiral
or ring pattern, enabling the cell wall to
stretch like a spring as the cell grows.
• Two types: fibers and sclereids -
specialized entirely for support.
(i) Fibers
 Long, slender, and tapered, and

usually occur in groups.

 Hemp fibers are used for making rope;

those from flax are woven into linen.

(ii) Sclereids (Stone cells)
 Irregular in shape and shorter than

fibers.
 Very thick, lignified secondary walls.

 Gives hardness to nutshells and seed

coats and gritty texture to pear fruits.

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Sclerenchyma fibers
Thickened wall

Pit

Stone cells or sclereids

http://www2.volstate.edu/msd/BIO/1020/lab10planttissues.htm

(d) Xylem

• Water-conducting elements of xylem,

tracheids and vessel elements, are
elongated cells that are dead at maturity.

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○ Thickened cell walls remain as a

nonliving conduit (tube) through which
water can flow.
• Both have secondary walls interrupted by
pits, thinner regions where only primary
walls are present.

(i) Tracheids
 Long, thin cells with tapered ends.
 Water moves from cell to cell mainly
through pits.
 Because their secondary walls are
hardened with lignin, tracheids function
in support as well as transport.

(ii) Vessel elements

 Generally wider, shorter, thinner walled,

and less tapered than tracheids.

 Aligned end to end, forming long

micropipes or xylem vessels.

 Ends are perforated, enabling water to

flow freely.

Tracheids Vessel elements

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Pit

Perforation
plate

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPLANTANAT.html

• Other xylem cells: fibers & parenchyma –

not conductive.

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(e) Phloem

• Sucrose, other organic compounds, and

some mineral ions move through tubes
formed by chains of cells called sieve-
tube members.
○ Alive at maturity, although cell lacks

nucleus, ribosomes, and vacuole.

○ End walls (sieve plates) have pores that

facilitate flow of fluid between cells.

○ Each sieve-tube member has non-

conducting nucleated companion cell,

connected to sieve-tube member by
numerous plasmodesmata.
○ Nucleus and ribosomes of companion cell

serve both that cell and adjacent sieve-

tube member.
○ In some plants, companion cells in leaves

help load sugar into sieve-tube members,

which transport sugars to other parts of
plant.

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http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~simmons/2153/lb1pg6.htm

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5.6.3 STRUCTURE OF EUDICOT &

MONOCOT STEMS, ROOTS AND
LEAVES

(1) Tissue Organization of Stems

• In gymnosperms and most eudicots,

vascular tissue consists of vascular
bundles arranged in a ring

• In most monocot stems, vascular bundles

are scattered throughout ground tissue.

(a) Structure of eudicot stem

• Epidermis (dermal tissue):

– Outer surface covered with cuticle.
– May be perforated with stomata.

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• Cortex (ground tissue)

– Several layers of collenchyma cells
immediately below epidermis
– Parenchyma cells below collenchyma
cells.
• Vascular bundles
– Arranged in a ring.
– Xylem towards inner side, and phloem
towards outside.
– Xylem and phloem separated by
cambium.
• Pith (ground tissue)
– Made up of living parenchyma cells.
• Secondary growth
– Woody dicot plants undergo
secondary growth, an increase in girth of
stems.
– Cambium divides, forming secondary
xylem (wood) on inside and secondary
phloem (inner bark) on outside.

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(b) Structure of monocotyledonous stem

• Epidermis (dermal tissue):

– Outer surface covered with cuticle.
– May be perforated with stomata.
• Does not have distinct area of cortex.

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• Vascular bundles
– Not arranged in a circle/ring but are
scattered throughout ground tissues.
– Does not possess lateral meristems
(cambium) that give rise to secondary
growth.
– Monocot does not produce wood.

(2) Tissue Organization of Roots

• In roots of typical gymnosperms and

eudicots, as well as some monocots, the
stele is a vascular cylinder consisting of a
lobed core of xylem with phloem between
lobes.

• Stele of many monocot roots is a vascular

cylinder with a core of parenchyma
surrounded by a ring of alternating xylem
and phloem.

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(a) Internal structure of eudicot root

http://sps.k12.ar.us/massengale/plant_structure_bi1.htm

• Epidermis
– No cuticle.
– Have root hairs.
• Cortex
– Contains thin-walled parenchyma
cells.
• Endodermis
– One layer of cells. Each cell has a
special bandlike region, called a
Casparian strip.
• Pericycle
– One layer of cells.
– Surrounds vascular bundle.
• Vascular cylinder
– Xylem arranged like a star in
transverse section with several “spokes”.

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– Phloem located in between “spokes”

of xylem.

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(b) Internal structure of monocot root

• Epidermis
– No cuticle.
– Have root hairs.
• Cortex
– Contains thin-walled parenchyma
cells.
• Endodermis
– One layer of cells.
• Pericycle
– One layer of cells.
– Surrounds vascular bundle.
• Vascular cylinder

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– Xylem does not arrange like a star in

transverse section.X AND P ARRANGED
ALTERNATELY
– Phloem and xylem are in separate
alternating bundles arranged around
central pith.
– Pith consists of parenchyma cells.

(3) Tissue Organization of Leaves

• Epidermis in leaves is interrupted by

stomata, which allow CO2 exchange
between air and photosynthetic cells in a
leaf.
• Ground tissue in a leaf is sandwiched

between upper and lower epidermis.

• Vascular tissue of each leaf is continuous

with vascular tissue of stem.

(a) Internal structure of eudicot leaf

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http://home.earthlink.net/~dayvdanls/plant_structure.html

• Epidermis
– On upper and lower surface.
– Outer surface covered with cuticle.
– Lower epidermis perforated by
stomata.
• Palisade mesophyll.
– Very little air spaces between
palisade cells.
– Cells contain chloroplast – performs
most of the photosynthesis.
• Spongy mesophyll
– Loosely arranged – allows CO2 to
diffuse easily.
– Cells contain fewer chloroplasts.
• Vascular bundles
– Xylem and phloem surrounded by
bundle sheath.

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– Xylem and phloem in leaves form in

strands called veins.
– Most dicots have netted venation.

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(b) Internal structure of

monocotyledonous leaf

• Epidermis
– On upper and lower surface.
– Outer surface covered with cuticle.
– Lower epidermis perforated by
stomata.
• Although most monocots have both
palisade and spongy mesophylls, some
monocots lack distinct regions of palisade
and spongy mesophylls.
• Vascular bundles
– Leaves of most monocots have
parallel venation.

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http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/LeafStructure.htm

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