meristem Bot.
(ˈmɛrɪstɛm)
[irreg. f. Gr. µεριστός divided, divisible, f. µερίζειν to divide, f. µέρος part; with ending after phloem, xylem.]
The unformed growing cellular tissue of the younger parts of plants; merismatic tissue. Also attrib.
| 1874 Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. XIV. 304 The three systems of meristem in the stem. 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 129 In Calodracon (Cordyline) Jacquini, the meristem-ring is derived immediately, according to Nägeli, from the primary meristem of the apex of the stem. 1908 W. R. Fisher Schlich's Man. Forestry (ed. 2) V. i. i. 9 The widening of the cells of the meristem, or primary growing tissue of the yearling shoot, is caused by the water taken from the plasmic contents of the nascent organs. 1954 Biol. Rev. XXIX. 62 If the development is delayed, the bud appears as a ‘detached meristem’ in the sense that it is separated from other meristematic tissues by enlarging vacuolating cells. 1961 F. A. L. Clowes Apical Meristems xi. 110 The primary meristem mantle..is prominent in some monocotyledons. 1967 Times 15 Mar. 7/1 The revolutionary method of propagating orchids by ‘meristem’ cuttings aroused great interest yesterday... This new method consists of cutting a tiny piece from the centre of the stem of an orchid..and placing it in a tube of culture solution. In two months this meristem cutting proliferates, producing as many as 20 tiny plants. 1974 Nature 2 Aug. 382/2 All divisions within the apical meristems of the shoots give rise to daughter cells with different fates: some remain meristematic. |
Hence meristeˈmatic a., of or of the nature of meristem; meristeˈmatically adv., after the manner of meristem (Cent. Dict. 1890).
| 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 18 The meristematic cells of Phanerogams. 1894 Oliver tr. Kerner's Nat. Hist. Plants I. 582 The groups of constructive, dividing, and enlarging cells, the so-called meristematic tissue. 1954, 1974 [see above]. |