Stems

Stems and their Functions

Nodes and Internodes

Support leaves
Produce carbohydrates
Store minerals
Transports water and solutes

External Structure

Nodes

Internodes

Buds

Leaf Scar

Bundle Scar

Bud Scale Scar

Other Scars

Lenticels

Buds

Position or Location
Terminal/Apical
Lateral/Axillary
Adventitious
Presence or Absence
of protective covering
Protected
Naked
Structures into which
they develop
Vegetative
Flower
Mixed

Source: http://academic.kellogg.edu/herbrandsonc/bio111/stems.htm

http://www.biog1105-1106.org/demos/105/unit4/media/plant.anatomy.woody.jpg

Internal Structure of Stems

Three tissues
Epidermal Tissue
Trichomes
Vascular Tissue
Xylem
Phloem
Ground Tissue
Cortex
Pith

Transverse section of corn stem (Zea mays)

http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/mauseth/weblab/webchap11stem/11.1-2.htm

Transverse section of corn stem (Zea mays)

http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/mauseth/weblab/webchap11stem/11.5-5.htm

http://people.hsc.edu/faculty-staff/edevlin/edsweb01/new_pa6.jpg

Herbaceous eudicot stem cross section

http://www.uic.edu/classes/bios/bios100/labs/herbstems.htm

http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/pix/steminternal.jpg

Longitudinal section of axillary meristem of coleus (Coleus)

http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/mauseth/weblab/webchap6apmer/6.1-4.htm

Secondary Growth

The Vascular
Cambium
Ray initials
Fusiform initials
Secondary Xylem
Kinds of Wood

Bark
Secondary Phloem
Periderm
Unusual Growth
Eudicots
Monocots

Secondary Growth

Absent in all species of modern ferns

Present in gymnosperms
Present in basal angiosperms and eudicots, but
others are herbs
Ordinary type is absent in monocots, but some
have anomalous secondary growth

http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/pix/secondarygrowth.jpg

http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/mccauley/6a_site_images/tilia-2yr-670.jpg

http://academic.kellogg.edu/herbrandsonc/bio111/images/stems/stems.8.jpg

http://www.uic.edu/classes/bios/bios100/labs/vasccamb.jpg

The latewood tracheids on

the left are such narrow cells
that their circular bordered
pits must be small to fit on
their small radial walls.

Radial section of pine wood

http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/mauseth/weblab/webchap15wood/15.2-12.htm

Secondary Xylem: Wood

Kinds of Wood

Softwood

Eudicots

Sapwood

Nonflowering seed
plants

Hardwood

Water and dissolved

nutrients

Heartwood

Waste products

http://woodwork-plan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/softwood.jpg

http://woodwork-plan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/hardwood.jpg

http://www.gardentreeslandscape.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Hardwood-Trees.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lofizJ7zoB8/R9FV3apXYSI/AAAAAAAABg0/DdA7DbIFZeo/s400/cutting-boards_LRG.jpg

http://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/tlplib/wood/figures/tree_trunk_cut_through_sml.png

Bark: Secondary Phloem and Periderm

Secondary Phloem
Periderm
Phellogen or Cork Cambium
Phellem or Cork
Phelloderm or Secondary Cortex

Transverse section. of cactus bark (Acanthocereus sicariguensis)

Transverse section of ivy stem with lenticel (Hedera helix)

http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/mauseth/weblab/webchap17bark/17.3-1.htm

Unusual Secondary Growth

Eudicots

Unusual behavior of a
typical vascular
cambium (Daucus)
Presence of more
than one cambium
(Beta vulgaris)
Differential activity of a
vascular cambium
(Aristolochia)

Monocots

Dracaena and
Cordyline
Form a vascular
cambium just outside
their vascular bundles
Monocot cambium

Only one irregularly

shaped type of cell
Parenchymatous
secondary cortex and
lignified conjunctive
tissue

http://anubis.ru.ac.za/Main/ANATOMY/betast3.jpg
http://anubis.ru.ac.za/Main/ANATOMY/ANOMALOUS/beta5.jpg

The stem of Beta vulgaris contains

some vascular bundles embedded
in a pith-like parenchymatous core,
and immediately exarch of this, is a
broad band of tissue which is entirely
secondary, which includes a
cambial zone (CZ).

This micrograph shows one of the

primary bundles, which occur towards
the center of the beetroot stem, in
detail. Note that this vascular bundle
is inverted.

http://www.beilstein-journals.org/bjnano/content/figures/2190-4286-2-21-1.png?scale=2.0&max-width=1024&background=FFFFFF

Arborescent monocotyledons. (A) Dracaena draco, (B) Dracaena yuccaeifolia, (C) Yucca sp.,
(D) Pandanus sp

Uses of Secondary Xylem and Phloem

Lumber
Pulp and Paper
Fuel
Charcoal and Related Products
Fabrics and Rope
Sugar and Spice
Dyes
Drugs
Other Uses

Modified Stems

Modified Stems that

Grow Aboveground

Stolons or runners
Tendrils and twining
shoots
Searcher shoots
Cladodes or
cladophylls
Thorns
Short and long shoots
Succulent stems

Examples of different kinds of modified stems

http://www.cfwep.org/education/smsp/module07/m0707-content-psstemvt.html

(A & B) stem tendrils; (C, F, and

G) thorns; (D & E) leaf-like stems

http://www.biog1105-1106.org/demos/105/unit4/plant.anatomy.html

http://www.tutornext.com/system/files/u77/Image_1.GIF

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Z_WFblZncWM/TCfvLey8_fI/AAAAAAAAADA/L8BuLYtMZNQ/s1600/Lonicera+morrowi.jpg
http://www.preservedgardens.com/images/pressed-foliage/virginia_creeper.jpg

Cladodes of Asparagus sp., resembling leaves

http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/plants/plantsystematics/morph/vegetative/cladode-Asparagus.jpg

Epidendrum ciliare
http://www.orchidflowerhq.com/orchidpictures/Epidendrum-orchid.jpg

http://www2.puc.edu/Faculty/Gilbert_Muth/art0042.jpg

B. trifoliolata long shoot arising from short shoot

as the result of damage to the original long
shoot apex
http://w3.biosci.utexas.edu/prc/DigFlora/BERB/images/BETR-4Jul-SS2LS.JPG

http://www.mdweil.com/flowers-world-pics/flr-cactus2.jpg

Modified Stems

Modified Stems that

Grow Belowground

Bulbs
Rhizomes
Corms
Tubers

http://www.cobalt-group.com/frontpagewebs/Content/Classify/classifi.htm

http://www.littleexplorers.com/subjects/plants/gifs/Bulb_bw.GIF

http://www.grannysgardenschool.com/607-1-00-corm3.jpg