A Periclinal Division in the ‘Dermatogen at the Tip of the Maize Growing Point

Abstract

THE accompanying photomicrograph and the cell-wall drawing show the periclinal division of a single isolated cell in the ‘dermatogen’ of a maize growing point (L.S.). In the more primitive vascular plants it has long been recognized that the outer layer of cells contributes to the central tissues of the apex by periclinal divisions. Recent workers have confirmed this for Lycopodium¹, and a number of Gymnosperms^2,3,4,5. The above case shows that even in the Angiosperms, and even at the extreme apex in these, periclinal divisions sometimes occur in the outermost cell layer.