Page 28 - SCERT Kerala State Syllabus 8th Standard Basic Science Textbooks English Medium Part 1_Neat

Growth in plants is mainly centered at the tip of stems and roots. But,
in animals, growth is not confined to any specific area.

Why does growth in plants occur at specific areas?
Find the answer by analysing the following description.

Meristematic tissues
Meristematic cells are specific cells seen at the tip
of the stem and the root in plants. They undergo
rapid division and this results in the growth of
plants.

Compare the figures of a meristematic cell and a mature cell.
Find out the differences and complete the table.
thick
secondary
wall
primary wall

thin primary wall
comparatively large
nucleus

more cytoplasm

Meristematic cell Mature cell
Fig 2.1

Meristematic Mature
Characteristics
cells plant cells
$ Relative size of the nucleus

$ Thickness of the cell wall
$ Quantity of cytoplasm

Table 2.1
Different types of plant tissues are formed from meristematic cells.
Parenchyma, collenchyma, sclerenchyma, xylem, phloem etc., are

Basic Science VIII 27