Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each meristem by what it adds to the plant.
Groups: Adds length · Adds girth
- Apical meristem at the root tip
- Apical meristem at the shoot tip
- Vascular cambium
- Cork cambium
- Intercalary meristem at an internode base
Hints
- Apical and intercalary meristems extend; lateral ones thicken.
- The cambia are cylinders running along the stem, so they add outward rather than upward.
Show the answer
Adds length: Apical meristem at the shoot tip, Apical meristem at the root tip, Intercalary meristem at an internode base
Adds girth: Vascular cambium, Cork cambium
Why
Apical and intercalary meristems produce primary growth in length; the two cambia produce secondary growth in girth. A plant that only ever had apical meristems would be tall and permanently thin.
Practise Plant Meristems and Covering Tissues
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