Plant tissues

• Plants do not move, i.e., they are stationary.

• Most of the tissues they have are supportive, which provides them with structural strength.

• Most of these tissues are dead, as they can provide better mechanical strength than the live ones, and need less maintenance.

• Some of the plant tissues keep on dividing throughout the plant life. These tissues are localised in certain regions

Types of Plant Tissues:

Based on the dividing capacity of the tissues, various plant tissues can be classified as growing or meristematic tissue and permanent tissue which have further sub-divisions as explained below:

Meristematic Tissue

• Only certain parts of a plant tend to grow. The tissues located in such parts are called meristematic tissues.
• They have the capability to divide themselves and form new tissues. They have thin cell wall made of cellulose. Also have dense nucleus and cytoplasm but lack vacuoles.
• They can further we classify differently based on the areas of the plants where they are located -

1. Apical
2. Lateral
3. Intercalary

1.Apical Meristem:

• They are responsible for the growth of stems and roots in the plants.
• They are found on the tips of the roots and stems.

2.Lateral Meristem:

• They are responsible for increasing the circumference of the middle part of the stem and hence are found there.

3.Intercalary Meristem:

• These tissues are present at internodes or stem regions between the places at which leaves attach.
• Vacuoles are responsible for storage of food in water. The intercalary tissues do not store them. They are rather responsible for manufacturing them.
• Moreover, vacuoles contain sap which provides rigidity to a cell. This property of vacuoles may not allow the intercalary tissues to divide and manufacture new cells. Hence vacuoles are not present in intercalary meristem.

Meristematic Tissues: Only certain parts of a plant tend to grow. The tissues located in such parts are called meristematic tissues.

Meristems:

This tissues which have the power of cell division are called meristem. The growth of plant occurs only in certain regions which contains meristem.

1. Apical meristems - It is present at the growing tip of the stem and roots. It is responsible for the increase in length.
   
   
2. Lateral meristems - It is present at the lateral side of the stem and root. It is responsible for the increase in girth.
   
   
3. Intercalary meristems - It is present at the internodes or base of the leaves. It increases the length between the nodes.