9.

13: Plant Growth

So how do plants grow?

There must be an area of growth, similar to how the bones in your fingers, arms, and legs grow longer. There is, and it is called the
apical meristem, which is shown here.

Growth of Plants
Most plants continue to grow throughout their lives. Like other multicellular organisms, plants grow through a combination of cell
growth and cell division. Cell growth increases cell size, while cell division (mitosis) increases the number of cells. As plant cells
grow, they also become specialized into different cell types through cellular differentiation. Once cells differentiate, they can no
longer divide. How do plants grow or replace damaged cells after that?
The key to continued growth and repair of plant cells is meristem. Meristem is a type of plant tissue consisting of undifferentiated
cells that can continue to divide and differentiate.
Apical meristems are found at the apex, or tip, of roots and buds, allowing roots and stems to grow in length and leaves and
flowers to differentiate. Roots and stems grow in length because the meristem adds tissue “behind” it, constantly propelling itself
further into the ground (for roots) or air (for stems). Often, the apical meristem of a single branch will become dominant,
suppressing the growth of meristems on other branches and leading to the development of a single trunk. In grasses, meristems at
the base of the leaf blades allow for regrowth after grazing by herbivores – or mowing by lawnmowers.

Microphotograph of the root tip of a broad bean show rapidly dividing apical meristem tissue just behind the root cap. Numerous
cells in various stages of mitosis can be observed.
Apical meristems differentiate into the three basic types of meristem tissue which correspond to the three types of tissue: protoderm
produces new epidermis, ground meristem produces ground tissue, and procambium produces new xylem and phloem. These three
types of meristem are considered primary meristem because they allow growth in length or height, which is known as primary
growth.
Secondary meristems allow growth in diameter (secondary growth) in woody plants. Herbaceous plants do not have secondary
growth. The two types of secondary meristem are both named cambium, meaning “exchange” or “change”. Vascular cambium
produces secondary xylem (toward the center of the stem or root) and phloem (toward the outside of the stem or root), adding

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growth to the diameter of the plant. This process produces wood, and builds the sturdy trunks of trees. Cork cambium lies
between the epidermis and the phloem, and replaces the epidermis of roots and stems with bark, one layer of which is cork.

Woody plants grow in two ways. Primary growth adds length or height, mediated by apical meristem tissue at the tips of roots and
shoots – which is difficult to show clearly in cross-sectional diagrams. Secondary growth adds to the diameter of a stem or root;
vascular cambium adds xylem (inward) and phloem (outward), and cork cambium replaces epidermis with bark.

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Summary
Most plants continue to grow as long as they live. They grow through a combination of cell growth and cell division (mitosis).
The key to plant growth is meristem, a type of plant tissue consisting of undifferentiated cells that can continue to divide and
differentiate.
Meristem allows plant stems and roots to grow longer (primary growth) and wider (secondary growth).

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Review
1. Define meristem and apical meristem.
2. What are the two types of secondary meristem?
3. Describe cork cambium.
4. What is primary growth and secondary growth?

This page titled 9.13: Plant Growth is shared under a CK-12 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by CK-12 Foundation via source
content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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