Construction of the Shoot Apex in Cereals and other Grasses

Abstract

THE reawakening of interest in the developmental anatomy of the shoot apex has been paralleled by considerable advances in technique and by a growing realization that the answers to many genetical problems are locked up in a better understanding of the processes at work during the ontogeny of the organism. For a number of reasons, our knowledge of apical architecture is, so far, most advanced in the Gramineæ: here we are now in the happy position of realizing that much of the early controversy arose, not from incorrect recording of facts, but from the participants failing to realize that they were dealing with separate chapters of the same story. Although all members of the family probably conform with the scheme set out in the present résumé, for convenience reference is mainly made to species already discussed in the literature.