STEMS: FORM & FUNCTION

• Function
• External Anatomy
• Internal Anatomy
 The Plant Body: Stems
FUNCTION OF STEMS
• Stems support leaves and
branches.
• Stems transport water and
solutes between roots and
leaves.
• Stems in some plants are
photosynthetic.
• Stems may store materials
necessary for life (e.g., water,
starch, sugar).
• In some plants, stems have
become adapted for specialized
functions.
 Stems support a display of
leaves.

Stems orient the leaves

toward the light with
minimal overlap among the
leaves.

Asclepias - milkweed
The stem supports a display of flowers
Cercis canadensis - redbud
The stem does photosynthesis…and stores water.
Opuntia-prickly pear
 This stem does
photosynthesis, stores
water, but also produces a
defense chemical:
mescaline…a hallucinogen.

Lophophora williamsii - peyote

 EXTERNAL ANATOMY

 There are many structures on the stem

which are very useful to us in identifying
plants
 Sometimes it is easier to identify a plant by its
stem rather than its leaves
 There are eight structures found on the
outside of a stem:
 Terminal bud – contains apical meristem;
found at the tip of a stem; it increases the
length of a stem
 Node – where the leaf and bud attaches to the stem
 Internode – distance between two nodes; tells how
much the tree grew in one season
 Lateral bud – also called the axillary bud; develops
into a leaf or flower
 Lateral and terminal buds are protected by bud
scales – helps the bud survive harsh climate
changes; when the bud opens in the spring, the
scales fall off leaving a bud scale scar
 Leaf scar – is the remains of the leaf after it
has fallen off of the tree; it is just below the
lateral bud
 If you look closely at the scar, you can see the
remains of the vascular tissue (xylem & phloem)

 Lenticels – are small spots on the stem

that allow a stem to exchange gases
(oxygen & carbon dioxide) with the
environment
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
STEM APICAL MERISTEM
Apical Dominance
 Apical dominance refers to the
suppression of growth by hormones
produced in the apical meristem. The
Christmas tree pattern of pines
indicates strong apical dominance.
Bushy plants have weak apical
dominance. If apical meristem is
eaten or destroyed, plants may
become bushy.
 Lateral branch growth are inhibited
near the shoot apex, but less so
farther from the tip.
 Apical dominance is disrupted in
some plants by removing the shoot
tip, causing the plant to become
bushy.
INTERNAL STEM ANATOMY
 Monocotyledonous &
Dicotyledonous Flowering Plants
INTERNAL STEM ANATOMY
• The transverse section of a
typical young dicotyledonous
stem shows that the epidermis
is the outermost protective layer
of the stem.
– Covered with a thin layer of
cuticle, it may bear trichomes
and a few stomata.
• The cells arranged in multiple layers between
epidermis and pericycle constitute the cortex.
• It consists of three sub-zones.
• The outer hypodermis, consists of a few layers
of collenchymatous cells just below the
epidermis, which provide mechanical strength to
the young stem.
• Cortical layers below hypodermis consist of
rounded thin walled parenchymatous cells with
conspicuous intercellular spaces.
• The innermost layer of the cortex is called the
endodermis. The cells of the endodermis are rich
in starch grains and the layer is also referred to
as the starch sheath.
• Pericycle is present on the
inner side of the endodermis
and above the phloem in the
form of semi-lunar patches of
sclerenchyma.
• In between the vascular
bundles there are a few layers
of radially placed
parenchymatous cells, which
constitute medullary rays.
• A large number of vascular
bundles are arranged in a ring; the
‘ring’ arrangement of vascular
bundles is a characteristic of dicot
stem.
• Each vascular bundle is conjoint,
open, and with endarch
protoxylem.
• A large number of rounded,
parenchymatous cells with large
intercellular spaces which occupy
the central portion of the stem
constitute the pith.
Typical Stem Cross Section (Dicot Stem)
Helianthus annuus-
sun flower annual
Epidermis

Cortex

A ring of vascular bundles

Pith
Epidermis
- window, reduce water loss
Cortex Collenchyma
- extensible support
Cortex Parenchyma
- photosynthesis, etc.
Fibers- rigid support

Functional Phloem
- conduct sugars etc. away
from leaf to rest of plant
Vascular Cambium
- adds 2° xylem and 2° phloem
Xylem
- conduct water and minerals
up from soil
Pith
- water storage, defense?
 VIP Stem: Provide both name and function labels:
Epidermis: reduce evaporation, gas exchange
Cortex: photosynthesis, collenchyma support
Vascular Bundles: conduction
Pith: water storage? defense? disintegrate?

Vascular Bundle:
outside
Phloem Fibers: support
Functional Phloem:
conduct CH2O away from leaf
to center
outside

Vascular Cambium:
add 2° Xylem and 2° Phloem
Xylem:
conduct minerals up from soil
to center
Vitis vinifera - grape
 Notice how the vascular cambia
of adjacent vascular bundles
line up side by side.

Notice that cambium tissue

differentiates between the
bundles, connecting the cambia
together.

Remnants of the procambium:

Intrafasicular cambium
Interfasicular cambium

Vitis vinifera - grape

• A monocot stem has a sclerenchymatous
hypodermis, a large number of scattered vascular
bundles, each surrounded by a sclerenchymatous
bundle sheath, and a large, conspicuous
parenchymatous ground tissue.
• Vascular bundles are conjoint and closed.
• Peripheral vascular bundles are generally smaller
than the centrally located ones.
• The phloem parenchyma is absent, and water-
containing cavities are present within the vascular
bundles.
Monocot Stem – cross section