Plant Anatomy An Applied Approach

313 Pages·2009·9.53 MB·English

PLANT ANATOMY
The Late Dr C Russell Metcalfe, who both inspired and taught me. (DFC)
Professors Chris H. Bornman and Ray F. Evert who as teachers, mentors,
and colleagues encouraged me to develop a fascination and passion to study
functional plant anatomy. (CEJB)
The Late Richard A. Popham who fi rst stimulated and encouraged my
interest in plant anatomy. (DWS)
Plant Anatomy
An Applied Approach
D.F. CUTLER, C.E.J. BOTHA,
D.W. STEVENSON
David F Cutler
Honorary Research Fellow
Jodrell Laboratory
Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew
Richmond, Surrey, UK
Ted Botha
Rhodes University
Department of Botany
Grahamstown
Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
Dennis Wm Stevenson
Vice President and Rupert Barneby Curator for Botanical Science
The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, New York, USA
© 2007 by David F. Cutler, Ted Botha, and Dennis Wm. Stevenson
BLACKWELL PUBLISHING
350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia
The right of David F. Cutler, Ted Botha, and Dennis Wm. Stevenson to be identifi ed
as the Authors of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright,
Designs, and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright,
Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.
First published 2007 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Based on the publication Applied Plant Anatomy by D.F. Cutler, published 1978 by
Longman.
1 2007
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cutler, D.F. (David Frederick), 1939–
Plant anatomy : an applied approach / D.F. Cutler, C.E.J. Botha. D.W. Stevenson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4051-2679-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Plant anatomy. I. Botha, C.E.J. (Christiaan Edward Johannes), 1946–
II. Stevenson, Dennis Wm. (Dennis William), 1942– III. Title.
QK641C867 2007
580–dc22
2007003776
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
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Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
1 Morphology and tissue systems: the integrated
plant body 4
General background 4
Adaptation to aerial growth 6
The systems in detail 9
2 Meristems and meristematic growth 14
Introduction 14
Apical meristems 15
Lateral meristems 20
Practical applications and uses of meristems 21
3 The structure of xylem and phloem 28
Introduction 28
The xylem 28
The phloem 41
S tructure–function relationships in primary and
secondary vascular tissues 45
4 The root 48
Introduction 48
Epidermis 48
Cortex 49
Endodermis 51
Pericycle 52
Vascular system 53
Lateral roots 54
vi 5 The stem 57
Introduction 57
Stems – cross-sectional appearance 59
C Transport phloem within the axial system 64
o
n Transport tissue – structural components 66
t
e
n Concluding remarks 68
t
s
6 The leaf 70
Introduction 70
Leaf structure 74
The epidermis 76
The mesophyll 93
Strengthening systems in the leaf 102
The vascular system 103
The phloem 108
Specifi cs of the monocotyledonous foliage leaf 111
Secretory structures 118
Concluding remarks 119
7 Flowers, fruits and seeds 121
Introduction 121
Vascularization 121
SEM studies 123
Palynology 124
Embryology 127
Seed and fruit histology 127
8 Adaptive features 135
Introduction 135
Mechanical adaptations 135
Adaptations to habitat 137
Xerophytes 139
Mesophytes 147
Hydrophytes 150
Applications 152
9 Economic aspects of applied plant anatomy 154
Introduction 154
Identifi cation and classifi cation 154
Taxonomic application 155
Medicinal plants 158
Food adulterants and contaminants 159
Animal feeding habits 162
Wood: present day 163
Wood: in archaeology 165 vii
Forensic applications 168
Palaeobotany 169
Postscript 169 C
o
n
t
e
10 Practical microtechnique 170 n
t
Safety considerations 170 s
Materials and methods 170
Microscopy 191
Appendix 1 Selected study material 195
Appendix 2 Practical exercises 203
Glossary 242
Cited references 280
Further reading 282
Index 287

Preface
Plant anatomy, the study of plant cells and tissues, has advanced considerably
since the early descriptive accounts were made which consisted mainly of
cataloguing what was ‘out there’. Anatomical data have been applied in the
better understanding of the interrelationships of plants, and in the molecular
age provide confi rming evidence of natural relationships of plant families in
combined analyses. Plant physiologists need to know where certain process-
es are being carried out by plants – there are particularly interesting studies
on phloem loading and the transport of synthesized materials, for example.
There is a long list of applications, and these are expanded on in Chapter 1.
One of us (DFC) wrote a book, Applied Plant Anatomy (published in 1978),
aimed at reaching students who needed to know about the anatomy of plants,
but found the encyclopaedic volumes daunting. This book served its purpose
well, but is now very dated and long out of print.
We realized that with the passage of time, many new disciplines had been
developed, and older ones expanded to a point where a much revised and up-
dated book of this type could play an important part. Consequently, this vol-
ume was conceived, and together with the CD-ROM which takes the study
of practical plant anatomy to new levels, presents a ready way for non-
specialists to learn about and enjoy the subject, at their own pace and in many
places, beyond the formal constraints of the laboratory.
D.F. Cutler, C.E.J. Botha, D. Wm. Stevenson