Anatomy of Flowering Plants Notes

Plant Anatomy Notes: Tissue Systems and Internal Structure

Anatomy of Flowering Plants covers the internal organisation of plant organs through tissue systems and their arrangement in roots, stems, and leaves. The three tissue systems are the epidermal system (outer protective layer with cuticle and stomata), the ground tissue system (cortex, endodermis, pericycle, pith, and medullary rays), and the vascular tissue system (xylem for water transport and phloem for food transport). Meristematic tissues are classified by position as apical (root and shoot tips for primary growth), intercalary (at nodes for internode elongation), and lateral (vascular cambium and cork cambium for secondary growth). Simple permanent tissues include parenchyma (thin-walled, living, storage), collenchyma (thickened corners, living, mechanical support in young organs), and sclerenchyma (thick-walled, dead at maturity, mechanical support including fibres and sclereids). Complex permanent tissues are xylem (tracheids, vessels, xylem fibres, xylem parenchyma) and phloem (sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem fibres, phloem parenchyma).