A Periclinal Division in the 'Dermatogen' at the Growing Point of Couch Grass, Agropyron repens, Beauv

Abstract

EXCEPT at the edges of young leaves, the 'dermatogen' cells in Dicotyledon shoot growing-points normally only divide anticlinally, but in many Monocotyledons they also divide periclinally where primordia are arising. That occasionally they may divide periclinally independently of leaf initiation was shown in a previous communication¹. Since then, Miss E. A. Bindloss has mentioned (in a letter dated March 3, 1941) that she has also observed a similar situation in her material of maize plumules. It now seems that earlier, in Triticum, Rösier² had noticed a single example of dermatogen cells dividing periclinally without being involved in the production of a primordium. The following interesting case now deserves recording.