University of Santo Tomas

Faculty of Pharmacy
Department of Pharmacy

PHA611 – Pharmaceutical Botany and Taxonomy

Plant Cells
Stem

Major Functions of Stem:

• Provide a framework for leaves, flowers, and
seeds
• Carry water and minerals from the soil, and
sugars manufactured in leaves throughout the
plant

It is used in paper production, cork production,

horticulture, landscaping and bonsai making.

Curcuma longa
• The spice that gives the
bright yellow color to
prepare (hotdog) mustard.
It’s also a source of yellow
and orange dyes for wool and silk, notably as
coloring for the robes of Buddhist monks.
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
• used in making root
beer, usually the bark
of the root.
• A&W root beer at one
time contained no
sassafras but used sarsaparilla root for flavoring.
Hops (Humulus lupulus)
• The herb used to flavor
beer.
• Hops are closely related
botanically to marijuana
Cinnamon bark
• Cinnamon bread

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Primary Tissues Eustele – vascular bundle arranged in 1 ring surrounding
• Derived from apical meristem the pith
• Epidermis Pith – region of parenchyma
• Cortex
• Vascular Bundles

Young dicot stem shows primary growth in 3

sections:
1. Dermal
2. Cortex
3. Stele or vascular cylinder

Internal Anatomy of a Dicot Stem

Primary phloem

‘ Vascular cambium

Primary xylem (larger)

Eustele – composed of bundles around the pith

Primary xylem
Origin of Eustele arrangement in dicot stems
• Tracheids, vessel element, parenchyma, xylem
fibers
Primary phloem
• Sieve element, companion cell, phloem fibers

Cross section of a young dicot stem

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Stems Growth and Differentiation Vascular Cambium
• Shoot apical meristem responsible for the • Initiation of the vascular cambium
growth if stems, produce new cells
• Subapical meristem: has protoderm, ground
meristem, provascular tissues
• Cells ⟶ 1st tracheids or vessel element
(protoxylem) ⟶ metaxylem
• Cells ⟶ 1st phloem
(protophloem) ⟶ metaphloem
• Phloem – cells continue to divide so they remain
small
• Xylem – cells stops dividing (Cells become
larger as tissues expand, stretched
• Herb – cells between metaxylem and
metaphloem of a vascular bundle stops dividing
and differentiate into conducting tissues
• Woody – continue to divide and constitute the
fascicular cambium
• Interfascicular and fascicular cambium become
the vascular cambium (after 2-3 years)

Vascular cambium – has fusiform initials and ray initials

Fusiform initials and Ray initials

Ray initials

Fusiform initials

Presence of Secondary Growth

Modern ferns Absent in all species Ray initials
Gymnosperms Present in all species Produces short cells
Dicots Present in many species, other - Storage parenchyma (xylem, phloem in the
species are herbs outer cell, parenchyma)
Monocots Ordinary type is absent in many
- Albuminous cells
species, some have anomalous
secondary growth

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Fusiform initials
Produces elongated cells
- tracheids, vessel elements, fibers
- Sieve cells, sieve tube members, companion
cells, fibers

Secondary Growth

Fusiform Initials
• Long tapered cells
• Cells divide periclinal (parallel to ref) or anticlinal
(⊥) to cambial surface
• Transverse division and produces ray initials
• Produces 2 elongated cells:
o 1 continue to be fusiform cells
o Either 2 degree xylem (inner) to 2
degree phloem (outer)
o Wood (exterior)
o Bark (exterior)
o 1 daughter cell – cambial cell
Region of Secondary Vascular Tissues
Ray Initials
• Short cuboidal cell
• Periclinal cell division
o 1 daughter cell – ray initial
o Other – xylem parenchyma (inner),
phloem (outer)

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Old dicot stem – secondary vascular tissues o Ray parenchyma store carbohydrates
(CHO), conduct it radially over short
Primary phloem distance
Secondary phloem • Types of ray parenchyma cells
o Upright cell
Secondary xylem - Adjacent to axial parenchyma –
Primary xylem
plasmodesmata occur
- Adjacent to axial tracheid –
Vascular cambium tracheary element has pits in 2
Pith
degree wall and ray cell is thin
walled facing pits
o Procumbent cells
Secondary Xylem
- With starch which are last to be
1. Types of Wood Cells derived from fusiform
digested
initials and ray initials
a. Fusiform initials – axial system
Regions of wood
b. Ray initials – radial system
• Early wood / spring wood – with large vessel
and few fibers (gymnosperms); 1st wood formed
o For maximum conduction
• Late wood / summer wood – region of abundant
fibers and few narrow vessel, for strength
• Hard wood – dicot wood
• Soft wood – conifers

Annual rings
• Seasonal climate, vascular cambium become
active after winter
• 1 year growth – late + early wood
Secondary Xylem (Wood)
• Diffuse porous – annual ring with vessels
• Cells interior of vascular cambium
throughout it
• Wood – contains tracheids, vessel element,
• Ring porous – vessels are in early wood;
fiver, sclereids, parenchyma
conspicuous annual rings
• Arrangement of 2 degree xylem, reflects that of
fusiform and ray intials
Ring Porous Diffuse Porous
• Axial system
o Simpler, parenchyma arranged as
uniseriate, biseriate, multiseriate of rays
o Gymnosperms – uniseriate, multiseriate
if with resin canal
- Continuous ray parenchyma
cell, ray tracheids

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Secondary Xylem Secondary phloem (inner bark)
(Annual rings also known as Growth Rings) • Has axial and radial system like xylem
• Axial – conduction
• Innermost phloem layer – conduct cells
• Dicot – sieve tube, companion cells
• Gymnosperm – sieve cells
• Phloem rays – same size, shape, number as that
of xylem rays because both are produced by ray
initials
• Parenchymal cells – for storage

Secondary Phloem (inner bark)

Outer bark – cork and cork cambium
Secondary Xylem (Heartwood and Sapwood)
Darkening of the Heartwood
1. Breakage of water columns in tracheary
elements (freezing, wind, vibration, etc.)
2. Fungal attack
3. Formation of tylosis in treachery element which
are not conducting and plug informed
4. Metabolic changes that produce phenolic
compounds, lignins, aromatic compounds which
inhibit growth of bacteria
5. These cells die and forms the heartwood
(aromatic / decay resistant)

Reaction wood
• Tension wood (dicot) – upper side of branch
o Has gelatinous fibers, rich in cellulose,
no lignin
Sapwood – living parenchyma, full of xylem sap; with
o Growth rings are eccentric, wider on top
water filled tracheary element; constant thickness
of branch
• Compression wood (conifers) – lower side
o Rich in lignin
o Growth rings are wider on lower side of
branch
• Produced in response to lateral stress like
gravity

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 Outer bark (periderm) Periderm layer or outer bark
• Cork cambium – cuboidal cells derived from:
o Epidermal cells – outer bark has
periderm, cuticle, smooth
o Cortex – outer bark has periderm,
cortex, epidermis, smooth with cortical
cells
o 2 degree phloem – outer bark has cork
and phloem
o After division:
§ Cork parenchyma (phelloderm)
§ Cork cell (phellem) – crusted
with suberin, die

Resin duct – prevents

Periderm or outer bark insect burrowing
Lenticel Woody stem of pine tree
Phellem

Phellogen or cork cambium

Phelloderm or cork parenchyma

Lenticel – regions of aerenchymatous cork, permits O2

to penetrate across all layers
Pine Stem
Many parenchymal cells in cortex and 2 degree phloem
were converted to sclereids making bark stronger.
Bark cracks, peels of in thin sheets.

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Anomalous Forms of Growth Modified Stems
1. Anomalous Secondary Growth in potato Bulb
• short veritical
stem covered
with fleshy
Formation of cambia around the
blades, ex.:
vessels onion, garlic
• Function: storage
Radish – wood of storage root, and reproduction
mostly parenchyma, no fiber • Subterranean –
bulb, rhizome,
tuber, corm
Advantage: speed the • Advantage:
production of storage storage for
capacity in storage roots and nutrient reserves
stems, and increases storage for perennial plant
during quiescence
parenchyma
Cactus
• Cladodes –
2. Included phloem – type of secondary phloem flattened leaf-like
located between two bands of xylem stem in cactuses
o green stem,
photosynthesis,
Selective advantage reproduction
may be protection of storage
phloem from insects by Rhizome
one to several layers of • fleshy, scaly
underground stem
wood. Ex.: bougainvilla
• reproduction,
storage
• ex.: ginger,
3. Secondary growth in monocots bamboo, canna
lilies, irises
• Outermost cells of secondary vascular bundles
Tubers
develop into fibers with thick secondary walls. • swollen
• Woody because of fibers enclosing each outgrowths of
vascular bundle stolon for storage
and reproduction
Figure 1. Joshua tree (Yucca
brevifolia) – dragon tree palm Hooks
• for protection in
Palm – trunk and branch don’t the stem of a rose
taper at tips like dicot; the
trunk has no vascular cambium
Stolons
• horizontal stems
Bauhinia – unequal growth of vascular cambium; with adventitious
flexibility buds for
reproduction of
new plants
• strawberries, etc.

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Corm
• vertical, thick and
short underground
stem with thin
papery leaves
reproduction
• storage
• ex.: crocus,
gladiolus
Twiner
• climbing / twining
• stem support