6.

ANATOMY OF FLOWERING PLANTS

- Anatomy is the study of internal structure of plants and other organisms.
- In angiosperms, monocots and dicots are anatomically different.
- Internal structures also show adaptations to diverse environments.

THE TISSUES
- A tissue is a group of cells having a common origin and b. Collenchyma
performing a common function. - It occurs in layers below the epidermis in dicot plants.
- Based on the capability of cell division, plant tissues are - It is found either as a homogeneous layer or in patches.
2 groups: Meristematic and Permanent. - It consists of cells with much thickened corners due to
Meristematic Tissues (Meristems) deposition of cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin.
- These are the tissues where active cell division and - Intercellular spaces are absent.
growth occurs. - Cells are oval, spherical or polygonal and often contain
- Based on the position, meristems are 3 types: chloroplasts.
o Apical meristems: They occur at the tips of roots and - Functions: They provide mechanical support to the
shoots and produce primary tissues. It is 2 types: growing parts such as young stem and petiole of a leaf.
 Root apical meristem: It occupies the tip of a root. The cells that contain chloroplasts assimilate food.
 Shoot apical meristem: It occupies the distant most c. Sclerenchyma
region of the stem axis. Some cells ‘left behind’ from - It consists of long, narrow cells with thick and lignified
shoot apical meristem, constitute the axillary bud. cell walls having a few or numerous pits.
They are present in the axils of leaves and are - They are usually dead and without protoplasts.
capable of forming a branch or a flower. - Based on the form, structure, origin and development,
o Intercalary meristems: They occur between mature sclerenchyma is 2 types: fibres or sclereids.
tissues. They occur in grasses and regenerate parts o Fibres: These are thick-walled, elongated and pointed
removed by the grazing herbivores. cells, generally occurring in groups.
Apical and intercalary meristems are primary o Sclereids: These are spherical, oval or cylindrical,
meristems because they appear early in a plant life and highly thickened dead cells with very narrow cavities
contribute to the formation of the primary plant body. (lumen). These are found in the fruit walls of nuts; pulp
During the formation of the primary plant body, of fruits like guava, pear and sapota; seed coats of
specific regions of the apical meristem produce dermal legumes and leaves of tea.
tissues, ground tissues and vascular tissues. - Function: It provides mechanical support to organs.
o Secondary (lateral) meristems: The meristems that 2. Complex Permanent Tissues
occur in mature regions of roots and shoots. They are - These are made of more than one type of cells and they
cylindrical meristems. They are seen in gymnosperms work together as a unit.
and dicots. E.g. Fascicular vascular cambium, - 2 types: Xylem and phloem.
interfascicular cambium & cork cambium. These a. Xylem
are responsible for producing the secondary tissues. - It functions as a conducting tissue for water and minerals
Permanent (Mature) Tissues from roots to the stem and leaves.
- The cells produced by primary and secondary meristems, - It also provides mechanical strength to the plant parts.
become structurally and functionally specialized and lose - It is composed of 4 kinds of elements: tracheids, vessels,
the ability to divide. Such cells are termed permanent xylem fibres and xylem parenchyma.
(mature) cells and constitute the permanent tissues. o Tracheids: These are elongated tube like dead cells with
- They are 2 types: Simple and Complex. thick and lignified walls and tapering ends. Protoplasm
absent. The inner layers of cell walls have thickenings
1. Simple Permanent Tissues which vary in form. In flowering plants, tracheids and
- These are the tissues having all cells similar in structure
vessels are the main water transporting elements.
and function.
o Vessel: It is a long cylindrical tube-like structure made
- 3 types: Parenchyma, Collenchyma and Sclerenchyma.
up of many cells (vessel members), each with lignified
a. Parenchyma
walls and a large central cavity. Protoplasm absent.
- It forms the major component within organs.
Vessel members are interconnected through perforations
- The cells are generally isodiametric. They may be
in their common walls. The vessels are a characteristic
spherical, oval, round, polygonal or elongated in shape.
feature of angiosperms. Gymnosperms lack vessels.
- Their walls are thin and made up of cellulose.
o Xylem fibres: They have highly thickened walls and
- Cells are closely packed or have small intercellular spaces.
obliterated central lumens. They are septate or aseptate.
- Functions: Photosynthesis, storage, secretion etc.

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o Xylem parenchyma: Living and thin-walled cells with The first formed primary phloem (protophloem) consists
cellulosic cell walls. They store food materials (starch or of narrow sieve tubes. The later formed phloem
fat) and other substances like tannins. Radial conduction (metaphloem) has bigger sieve tubes.
of water takes place by the ray parenchymatous cells. Function: Conduction of food materials from leaves.
- Primary xylem is 2 types: o Companion cells: Specialized parenchymatous cells
o Protoxylem: The first formed primary xylem. closely associated with sieve tube elements. Sieve tube
o Metaxylem: The later formed primary xylem. elements & companion cells are connected by pit fields
- In stems, the protoxylem lies towards the centre (pith) present between their common longitudinal walls.
and the metaxylem lies towards the periphery of the Function: Companion cells maintain the pressure
organ. This type of primary xylem is called endarch. gradient in the sieve tubes.
- In roots, the protoxylem lies towards periphery and o Phloem parenchyma: It is made up of elongated,
metaxylem lies towards the centre. Such arrangement of tapering cylindrical cells which have dense cytoplasm
primary xylem is called exarch. and nucleus. The cell wall is composed of cellulose and
b. Phloem (Bast) has pits through which plasmodesmatal connections exist
It transports food materials, usually from leaves to other between the cells. Phloem parenchyma is absent in most
parts of the plant. of the monocotyledons.
In angiosperms, phloem is composed of sieve tube Function: It stores food material and other substances
elements, companion cells, phloem parenchyma and like resins, latex and mucilage.
phloem fibres. Gymnosperms have albuminous cells and o Phloem fibres (bast fibres): These are made up of
sieve cells. They lack sieve tubes and companion cells. sclerenchymatous cells. Generally absent in primary
o Sieve tube elements: These are long, tube-like phloem but are found in the secondary phloem. These are
structures, arranged longitudinally and are associated much elongated, unbranched and have pointed, needle
with companion cells. Their end walls are perforated to like apices. Cell wall is quite thick. At maturity, these
form the sieve plates. A mature sieve element has a fibres lose their protoplasm and become dead. Phloem
peripheral cytoplasm and a large vacuole but lacks a fibres of jute, flax and hemp are used commercially.
nucleus. The functions of sieve tubes are controlled by Function: They give mechanical support and protection
the nucleus of companion cells. to soft tissues.

THE TISSUE SYSTEM

On the basis of the structure and location, there are 3 types - The guard cells possess chloroplasts and regulate the
of tissue systems. They are opening and closing of stomata.
o Epidermal tissue system - Sometimes, a few epidermal cells, in the vicinity of the
o Ground (fundamental) tissue system guard cells become specialized in their shape and size.
o Vascular (conducting) tissue system They are known as subsidiary cells.
1. Epidermal Tissue System - The stomatal aperture, guard cells and the surrounding
- It forms the outer-most covering of the whole plant body. subsidiary cells are together called stomatal apparatus.
- It comprises epidermal cells, stomata and epidermal Epidermal appendages
appendages (trichomes & hairs). - The cells of epidermis bear a number of hairs.
Epidermis - Root hairs: They are unicellular elongations of the
- It is the outermost layer of the primary plant body. epidermal cells. They help to absorb water and minerals
- Epidermis is usually single layered. from the soil.
- It is made up of elongated, compactly arranged - Trichomes: They are the epidermal hairs on the stem.
parenchymatous cells with a small amount of cytoplasm They are usually multicellular, branched or unbranched
lining the cell wall and a large vacuole. and soft or stiff. They may even be secretory. Trichomes
- The outside of the epidermis is often covered with a help in preventing water loss due to transpiration.
waxy thick layer (cuticle). It prevents the loss of water. 2. The Ground Tissue System
Cuticle is absent in roots. - All tissues except epidermis and vascular bundles
Stomata constitute the ground tissue.
- These are structures present in the epidermis of leaves. - It consists of simple tissues (parenchyma, collenchyma
- Stomata regulate the transpiration and gaseous exchange. and sclerenchyma).
- A stoma is made of two bean-shaped cells (guard cells). - Parenchymatous cells are present in cortex, pericycle,
- In grasses, the guard cells are dumbbell shaped. pith and medullary rays, in the primary stems and roots.
- The outer walls of guard cells (away from the stomatal - In leaves, the ground tissue consists of thin-walled
pore) are thin and the inner walls (towards the stomatal chloroplast containing cells and is called mesophyll.
pore) are highly thickened.

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 3. The Vascular Tissue System Based on the arrangement of xylem and phloem, vascular
It consists of complex tissues (xylem and phloem). bundles are 2 types:
Xylem and phloem together constitute vascular bundles. o Radial type: In this, xylem and phloem within a vascular
Based on the presence or absence of cambium, vascular bundle are arranged in an alternate manner on different
bundles are 2 types: radii. Seen in roots.
o Open type: In this, cambium is present between phloem o Conjoint type: In this, xylem and phloem are situated at
and xylem. So vascular bundles can form secondary the same radius of vascular bundles. Seen in stems and
xylem and phloem tissues. E.g. dicotyledonous stems. leaves. The conjoint vascular bundles usually have the
o Closed type: In this, cambium is absent. Hence, they do phloem located only on the outer side of xylem.
not form secondary tissues. E.g. monocotyledons.

ANATOMY OF DICOTYLEDONOUS AND MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS

Dicotyledonous (Dicot) Root o It consists of three sub-zones.
The transverse section of the sunflower root shows the  Hypodermis: Outer zone. It consists of a few layers of
internal tissue organisation as follows: collenchymatous cells just below the epidermis. It
o Epidermis: The outermost layer. Many of the epidermal provides mechanical strength to the young stem.
cells protrude in the form of unicellular root hairs.  Cortical layers: Below hypodermis. They consist of
o Cortex: It consists of several layers of thin-walled rounded thin walled parenchymatous cells with
parenchyma cells with intercellular spaces. conspicuous intercellular spaces.
o Endodermis: The innermost layer of the cortex. It  Endodermis: Innermost layer of the cortex. The cells
comprises a single layer of barrel-shaped cells without are rich in starch grains. So the layer is also called as
any intercellular spaces. the starch sheath. Pericycle is present on the inner
The tangential as well as radial walls of the endodermal side of the endodermis and above the phloem in the
cells have a deposition of water impermeable, waxy form of semi-lunar patches of sclerenchyma.
material-suberin-in the form of casparian strips. o Stele: Consists of pericycle, vascular bundles,
o Stele: All tissues on the inner side of the endodermis medullary rays & pith.
together constitute stele. They include  Medullary rays: These are few layers of radially placed
 Pericycle: A few layers of thick-walled parenchymatous cells in between vascular bundles.
parenchyomatous cells next to endodermis. Initiation of  Vascular bundles: Large in number. They are
lateral roots and vascular cambium during the arranged in a ring. The ‘ring’ arrangement of vascular
secondary growth takes place in these cells. bundles is a characteristic of dicot stem. Each vascular
 Pith: Innermost region of the stele. It is small or bundle is conjoint, open, and with endarch protoxylem.
inconspicuous.  Pith: The central portion of the stem where a large
 Conjunctive tissue: The parenchymatous cells which number of rounded, parenchymatous cells with large
lie between the xylem and the phloem. intercellular spaces are present.
 Vascular bundles: There are usually 2-4 xylem and Monocotyledonous (Monocot) Stem
phloem patches. Later, a cambium ring develops - It has a sclerenchymatous hypodermis, a large number
between the xylem and phloem. of scattered vascular bundles, each surrounded by a
Monocotyledonous (Monocot) Root sclerenchymatous bundle sheath, and a large,
- The anatomy of the monocot root is similar to the dicot conspicuous parenchymatous ground tissue.
root in many respects. - Vascular bundles are conjoint and closed. Peripheral
- It has epidermis, cortex, endodermis, pericycle, vascular bundles are smaller than centrally located ones.
vascular bundles and pith. - The phloem parenchyma is absent, and water-containing
- There are usually more than six (polyarch) xylem cavities are present within the vascular bundles.
bundles in the monocot root. Dicotyledonous (Dorsiventral) Leaf
- Pith is large and well developed. The vertical section of a dicot leaf through lamina shows 3
- Monocot roots do not undergo any secondary growth. main parts: Epidermis, mesophyll & vascular system.
Dicotyledonous (Dicot) Stem o Epidermis: It covers both the upper surface (adaxial
The transverse section of a typical young dicot stem shows epidermis) and lower surface (abaxial epidermis) of the
the following regions: leaf. It has a conspicuous cuticle.
o Epidermis: It is the outermost protective layer of the Abaxial epidermis generally bears more stomata than the
stem. Covered with a thin layer of cuticle, it may bear adaxial epidermis. The latter may even lack stomata.
trichomes and a few stomata. o Mesophyll: The tissue between the upper and the lower
o Cortex: It is the multiple layers of the cells arranged in epidermis. It is made up of parenchyma. They contain
between epidermis and pericycle. chloroplasts for photosynthesis. It has 2 types of cells:

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  Palisade parenchyma: It is adaxially placed. It is The anatomy of monocot leaf is similar to that of the dicot
made up of elongated cells arranged vertically and leaf in many ways. It shows the following differences:
parallel to each other. o Stomata are present on both surfaces of the epidermis.
 Spongy parenchyma: The oval or round and loosely o Mesophyll is not differentiated into palisade and spongy
arranged. It is situated below the palisade cells and parenchyma.
extends to the lower epidermis. There are numerous o In grasses, certain adaxial epidermal cells along the veins
large spaces and air cavities between these cells. modify themselves into large, empty, colourless cells.
o Vascular system: It includes vascular bundles. They can These are called bulliform cells. When the bulliform cells
be seen in the veins and midrib. have absorbed water and are turgid, the leaf surface is
Size of vascular bundles is dependent on the size of the exposed. When they are flaccid due to water stress, they
veins. The veins vary in thickness in the reticulate make the leaves curl inwards to minimise water loss.
venation of dicot leaves. Vascular bundles are surrounded o Parallel venation is reflected in the near similar sizes of
by a layer of thick walled bundle sheath cells. vascular bundles (except in main veins) as seen in
Monocotyledonous (Isobilateral) Leaf vertical sections of the leaves.

SECONDARY GROWTH
- The growth of the roots and stems in length with the help - In spring season, cambium is very active and produces a
of apical meristem is called the primary growth. large number of xylary elements having vessels with
- Increase in girth of dicot plants is called secondary wider cavities. The wood formed during this season is
growth. called spring wood (early wood). It is lighter in colour
- Tissues involved in secondary growth are the two lateral and has a lower density.
meristems: vascular cambium & cork cambium. - In winter, cambium is less active and forms fewer xylary
Vascular Cambium elements that have narrow vessels. This wood is called
- It is the meristematic layer responsible for cutting off autumn wood (late wood). It is darker and has a higher
vascular tissues (xylem and phloem). density.
- In the young stem it is present in patches as a single layer - These two kinds of woods that appear as alternate
between xylem & phloem. Later it forms a complete ring. concentric rings constitute an annual ring. This is used
Formation of cambial ring to estimate the age of tree.
- In dicot stems, cells of cambium present between primary Heartwood and sapwood
xylem & primary phloem is intrafascicular cambium. - Heartwood: It is the hard, dead, dark brown-coloured,
- Cells of medullary cells, adjoining this intrafascicular highly lignified and non-functional central part of the
cambium become meristematic and form the secondary xylem of old trees. The dark colour is due to
interfascicular cambium. Thus, a continuous ring of deposition of organic compounds (tannins, resins, oils,
cambium is formed. gums, aromatic substances, essential oils etc). These
Activity of the cambial ring substances make it hard, durable and resistant to the
- The cambial ring becomes active and cut off new cells, attacks of microorganisms and insects.
both towards the inner and outer sides. The cells cut off Function: It gives mechanical support to stem.
towards pith, mature into secondary xylem. The cells cut - Sapwood: It is the peripheral region of secondary xylem.
off towards periphery mature into secondary phloem. It is living and lighter in colour. It is involved in the
- Cambium is generally more active on the inner side than conduction of water and minerals from root to leaf.
on the outer. As a result, the amount of secondary xylem Cork Cambium
produced is more than secondary phloem and soon forms - As the stem continues to increase in girth due to the
a compact mass. activity of vascular cambium, the outer cortical and
- Primary and secondary phloems get gradually crushed epidermis layers get broken and need to be replaced to
due to the continued formation and accumulation of provide new protective cell layers. Hence another
secondary xylem. The primary xylem however remains meristematic tissue called cork cambium (phellogen)
more or less intact, in or around the centre. At some develops, usually in the cortex region.
places, the cambium forms a narrow band of - Phellogen is a couple of layers thick. It is made of
parenchyma, which passes through the secondary xylem narrow, thin-walled and nearly rectangular cells.
and the secondary phloem in the radial directions. These - Phellogen cuts off cells on both sides. The outer cells
are the secondary medullary rays. differentiate into cork (phellem) while the inner cells
Spring wood and autumn wood differentiate into secondary cortex (phelloderm). Cells
- The activity of cambium is under the control of many of secondary cortex are parenchymatous.
physiological & environmental factors. In temperate - The cork is impervious to water due to suberin deposition
regions, the climatic conditions are not uniform. in the cell wall.

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- Phellogen, phellem, and phelloderm are collectively Function: Lenticels permit gas exchange of between the
known as periderm. Due to activity of cork cambium, outer atmosphere and the internal tissue of the stem.
pressure builds up on the remaining layers peripheral to Secondary Growth in Roots
phellogen and ultimately these layers die and slough off. - In dicot root, vascular cambium is completely secondary
- Bark is a non-technical term that refers to all tissues in origin. It originates from the tissue located just below
(such as periderm & secondary phloem) exterior to the the phloem bundles (a portion of pericycle) above the
vascular cambium. It is 2 types: protoxylem forming a complete and continuous wavy
o Early (soft) bark: It is formed early in the season. ring. It later becomes circular. Further events are similar
o Late (hard) bark: It is formed towards end of season. to those of a dicotyledon stem.
- Lenticels: At certain regions, phellogen cuts off closely
Secondary growth also occurs in stems and roots of
arranged parenchymatous cells on outer side. These cells
gymnosperms. However, secondary growth does not occur
rupture epidermis, forming a lens shaped openings called
in monocotyledons.
lenticels. These occur in most woody trees.

MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Find out the odd one
a. Parenchyma, Xylem, Collenchyma, Sclerenchyma
b. Sieve tubes, companion cells, tracheids, bast fibre
2. Analyze the table and arrange them in an appropriate order
A B C
Monocot Stem Bulliform cells Bean shaped guard cells
Isobilateral leaf Endarch Xylem Secondary thickening
Dorsiventral leaf Closed Vascular bundle Dumble shaped guard cells
Dicot stem Palisade and spongy parenchyma Proto xylem and lacunae
3. Give reasons.
a. Conduction of the food through the sieve tube is under the control of companion cell.
b. Annual rings are not found in coconut tree.
4. Identify the type of vascular bundle.

5. Vascular bundles of a plant are conjoint, collateral and open.

a. In which part of a plant this kind of vascular bundles are seen?
b. Is it possible for this part of plant to undergo secondary thickening? Give reasons.
6. Some anatomical characters are given in brackets. Arrange them in three columns under root, stem and leaves.
(Conjoint open bundles, mesophyll cells, endarch xylem, radial bundles, bulliform cells on epidermis, casparian
thickenings in endodermis, exarch xylem)