Question

1.) What are lateral meristems responsible for? Do Palm trees have meristematic growth? Which type?

Answer 1

The meristem contains cells which can divide so that the plant gets bigger. Apical meristems allow the plant to grow up and down, and lateral meristem allows the plant to grow out, or laterally. The lateral meristems surround the established stem of a plant and cause it to grow laterally (i.e., larger in diameter) that is the reason that it is named as lateral meristem. Lateral meristem is responsible for the growth in diameter.

Palm stems are characterized by having a single apical meristem or growing point. All new leaves and flowers develop from the apical meristem. Palms have no lateral meristems or vascular cambium, which in dicot and coniferous trees produce additional xylem internally and phloem and bark externally. Death of the apical meristem in a palm results in the death of that stem in clustering species and death of the entire palm in single-stem species. Palm trees have diffuse secondary growth type