STEM

The stem is the organ on which the leaves and flowers develop; it is usually aerial,
upright and elongated, although in some plants it has a modified structure.

In most plants the stems are aerial, but in some cases they develop on the surface
or below the surface of the soil. Although the latter look like roots, their structure is
that of a stem. Some biennial or perennial species defend themselves against the
cold season by forming underground stems that store reserve substances, which
are used, the following year, for the formation of aerial shoots.

 Main stem: It is the stem from which the secondary stems begin to develop.
  Buds: From which the growth of the stems develops. They are protected by
small leaves called leaf primordia. The leaves and flowers emerge from the
axillary buds.
 Node: It is the place where the leaves are attached to the stem.
 Internodes: They are the space in the stem that is between two nodes.
 The outer layer of the stem is called the epidermis.
 The conductive tissues (vascular bundles; xylem and phloem) are found
inside the stem, which extend through the leaves where they are called
nerves.

The growth in thickness of the stem is different depending on the plants, since in
some there is no cambium, or growth tissue in thickness of woody plants,
therefore:
 In monocotyledons, only primary growth occurs, that is, these plants grow in
thickness up to a certain size and from there, they only grow in height.
 In dicotyledons, the bundles are grouped in a cylindrical ring, where we find
the pith inside and the cortex on the outside of the cylinder. In addition to
primary growth, these plants have secondary growth (in thickness) that
occurs from a layer of cells located between the xylem and the phloem
called cambium that, during the growing season, actively divides, generating
xylem cells. towards the interior and phloem cells towards the exterior. As
 the cambium grows, the diameter of the stem increases, giving rise to
growth rings that help us know the approximate age of the tree, since each
two rings (one of phloem and one of xylem) represents one year.

Types of stems:
 Herbaceous: soft and green, not woody.
 Woody: hard and resistant, generally not green, also called trunk.
 Modified stems: Tubers, rhizomes, bulbs.
o Underground stems: they serve as reserve organs for the plant when
it goes through unfavorable conditions. There are three types of
underground stems:
o Rhizomes: they are stems parallel to the soil surface but buried and
capable of producing leaves and roots (e.g. grass).
o Cauline tubers: they are thickened stems without roots that have
limited growth and function as reserve substances. If they are left
uncovered they can photosynthesize. (ex: potato).
o Bulbs: they are very short-growing stems with the apical bud
surrounded by thickened leaves that store reserve substances. It has
an annual cycle. It will form a new stem and another bulb for its
reserve substances. (e.g. garlic, onion, tulips, daffodils...)
 Aerial stems: various modifications can occur in the aerial stems, giving rise
to the following types of aerial stems:
o Runners: it is an aerial stem that has the ability to root at its nodes. If
it fragments, it can generate another entire plant.
o Cauline spines: reduced and sharp stems, sharp and hardened. Not
all thorns are of cauline origin. There are epidermal spines that grow
on the stem and are sting-shaped (e.g. rose bushes)
o Tendrils: these are stems that become twisted and flexible and the
plant uses them to attach itself to some support (e.g. vine).
 o Phylloclades: they are stems of limited growth (at a certain point the
apical bud stops growing), they are widened and flattened in the
shape of a sheet (e.g. cross spine)
o Cladodes: Same as phylloclades but they are large in size to store
reserve substances and water. (ex: prickly pears)
o Succulents: the stems thicken and are capable of storing water (e.g.
cacti).

In gymnosperms there are two types of stems:

 Macroblasts: they are normal, ordinary stems
 Brachyblasts: limited growth

Features:
Its main functions are:
 Be the support of the aerial organs
 Inside is the conductive tissue responsible for transporting the sap: phloem
and xylem.
o Xylem: Conducts water and mineral salts absorbed by the root to the
leaves.
o Phloem: Conducts the food produced by the leaves to the rest of the
plant.
 Stores water and synthesizes food (cactus).

Stem modifications:
Secondary modifications also occur in the stem.
 Acaule plants: they do not have a stem, the leaves are arranged in a basal
rosette.
 Adaptive responses can occur to certain environmental conditions.
It always has a growth zone at the apex, the meristem, which is protected by a
series of small leaves called cataphylls. The cataphylls surround the meristem,
constituting the cauline buds.

At certain heights there are areas of production of axillary buds and the areas
where they are produced are called nodes, with the areas between them being
called internodes. All branches arise from the buds. Sometimes they will give rise
to branches, other times to leaves and other times to flowers. This occurs in all
cormophytes.

Generally, in the nodes there is, in addition to the bud, a leaf that always arises
from the nodes of the stem. The angle between the stem and the leaf is called the
axil.

The cataphylls are branched leaves and in their axils they also have axillary buds.
In the apical bud there are already future internode nodes (axillary buds that
stretch).

 Types of stem branching

There are basically two types of branching:
o Monopodic
o Sympodic

In monopodial branching there is a main growth axis that does not stop
growing and always grows more than the lateral branches. The dominant
bud is the one at the apex: a plant with apical dominance.
 The sympodic does not have apical dominance because after the first year,
the main branch stops growing and the lateral branches take dominance.
Inside there are two types of monocassium and dicassium branches:

Adaptations
Aquatic
 It has large intercellular spaces that favor the diffusion of gases and
buoyancy, these are the air-bearing parenchymas.
 Skeletal tissue is scarce, since the support of water supplies it.
Epiphytes and Parasites
 With tendrils: Stems transformed to wrap around an object. (Vine)
 With thorns: Their purpose is to hold the plant and defend itself
against the attack of herbivores. (Bramble)
 Fickle: Flexible stems that twine around other plants (Jewish).
 With adherent roots: Stems that develop aerial roots to attach the
plant to other surfaces. (Ivy).
 With stem extensions that help them adhere to the wall or other
surfaces.
Mediterranean
 Very thick crusts.
  In media with a high concentration of salts, some plants absorb the
water with the salts and then expel them. Ex. Limonium
 Leaf-like. Ex. Rusco.
 Flattened stems.
Succulents
 Succulent stems.
 In plants that reduce leaves or lose them, stems with chlorophyllic
parenchyma appear (they perform the chlorophyllic function).
Tropical
 Volatile stems (lianas) that raise the leaves.
 The stem has a chlorophyllic parenchyma to increase light capture.
Ex Brachichiton

Stem anatomy:

The stem tissues may be derived exclusively from the apical meristems, in which
case it is said to have primary structure and primary tissues, as in pteridophytes
and monocotyledons. But if, in addition to the primary tissues, in the stem there are
tissues derived from the lateral meristems (cambium and phellogen), we speak of
secondary structure and secondary tissues, as in gymnosperms and most
dicotyledons.

 Primary structure
In this case, the stem is made up of three regions, these areas are, from
outside to inside: epidermis, cortex or primary cortex and central cylinder (or
stele).

The epidermis is, as already indicated, a protective tissue. The primary

cortex or cortex is formed by fundamental tissues, in some cases only
parenchyma with an assimilative or storage function, and in other cases also
by collenchyma, sclerenchyma or both, with a mechanical function. The
central cylinder or stele is also called the primary vascular cylinder, since it
is made up of the conductive tissues (primary phloem and xylem). These
tissues in dicotyledons can form a hollow cylinder (whose center is occupied
by a parenchymatous medulla), or appear in the form of bundles or cords
arranged in a circle around a parenchymatous medulla and separated from
each other by parenchymatic portions, called medullary rays, which They
communicate the medulla with the cortex. In monocotyledons, the primary
phloem and xylem form bundles that are distributed dispersely and,
therefore, no pith or medullary rays can be distinguished.

Herbaceous stem and tissues that make it up in cross section. Sequence of tissues from the periphery to the
center: e.- Epidermis with uniseriate hair. c.- Collenchyma es.- Sclerenchyma in the form of fibers p.- Parenchyma
hv.- Vascular bundle m.- Medulla. The vascular bundle formed by: es.- Sclerenchyma as a cap of fibers on the
phloem; f.- Phloem; ca.- Vascular or fascicular cambium; x.- Xylem. The cambium between the vascular bundles is
called interfascicular.
Herbaceous monocotyledonous stem, showing closed collateral vascular bundles distributed in a dispersed
manner. 1.- Epidermis. 2.- Vascular bundle. 3.- Phloem. 4.- Xylem vessel. 5.- Parenchyma. Taken from:
http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/biocoach/plants/monocot.html.

The different types of vascular bundles, closed, open, collateral, bicollateral and concentric. (Taken from Lütge et
al., 1993).

Herbaceous stem and approximate correspondence between the tissues in cross section and longitudinal section.
Sequence of tissues from the periphery to the center: e.- Epidermis c.- Collenchyma p.- Parenchyma f.- Fibers in
bundles p.- Parenchyma fp.- Primary phloem fs.- Secondary phloem. Both phloems showing sieve tubes with
sieve plates. ca.- Cambium xs.- Secondary xylem xp.- Primary xylem m.- Pith.

In the stem the arrangement of the vascular tissues is generally collateral,

with the primary phloem directed outward and the primary xylem directed
inward, that is, towards the center of the stem. However, other
arrangements may exist, for example, concentric vascular bundles.
  Secondary structure: it is due to the activity of the lateral meristems:
vascular and phellogen cambium. The first acts in the central cylinder,
between the primary phloem and xylem and the second is located
peripherally, in the cortex or epidermis. Both meristems produce new cells in
a radial direction, so the stem thickens. As a consequence of the Cambial
activity, secondary phloem and parenchyma cells (vascular rays) are
produced towards the outside, and secondary xylem and vascular rays are
produced towards the inside. Phellogen produces parenchyma cells on the
inside (phelodermis) and cork on the outside (súber or phelemma). The set
of these three layers: phellogen, phellodermis and cork constitutes the
periderm, which is the outer protection of the stem when the epidermis tears
during growth in thickness. There are stems that only produce a periderm,
but there are also others where new periderms appear in increasingly
internal areas, interspersed with layers of tissues isolated by them. In this
situation we speak of rhytidoma or external cortex. The action of the
vascular cambium generates more vascular tissue that can finally be
arranged as a cylinder or be confined to the previously existing vascular
bundles. When cylinders are formed, the amount of secondary xylem can be
very large and is designated as wood or log, and stems with such a
characteristic are called woody, in contrast to herbaceous stems that do not
produce as much secondary xylem (cylinder). or bundles) or they only have
primary tissues. Secondary phloem is produced in smaller quantities than
xylem and can also be called bast, although this term applies equally to
primary phloem.

In summary, in the secondary structure of the stem the following regions are noted,
from outside to inside: periderm (or rhytidome if several periderms are formed),
secondary phloem, vascular cambium, secondary xylem and pith.
It is also possible to observe some of the primary tissues. For example, the primary
phloem can persist, although sometimes very compressed, outside the secondary
phloem, while the primary xylem appears adjacent to the pith. The cortex and
epidermis may also remain. Other times the primary tissues disappear completely,
for example nsion or obliteration, or tearing.

Woody stem and tissues that make it up in cross section

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