aerenchyma Bot.
(ɛəˈrɛŋkɪmə)
Also † aerenchym(e.
[mod.L., ad. G. aërenchym (H. Schenck 1889, in Jahrb. f. wissensch. Bot. XX. 527), after parenchym parenchyma: see aero-.]
Soft cellular plant tissue containing many intercellular air spaces and channels, found esp. in many aquatic plants.
| 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict., Aerenchyma. 1908 H. Driesch Sci. & Philos. Organism I. 175 The so-called aërenchyme, especially well developed in the water-form of Jussiaea. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 743/1 A peculiar modification of periderm is formed by the phellogen in the submerged organs..of many aquatic or marsh-loving plants... This tissue is called aerenchym, and no doubt its function is to facilitate the respiration of the organs on which it is formed. 1965 Bell & Coombe tr. Strasburger's Textbk. Bot. 82 We can distinguish assimilatory parenchyma, food-storage parenchyma, transfusion parenchyma and parenchyma specialized for ventilation (aerenchyma). 1975 W. Armstrong in J. R. Etherington Environment & Plant Ecol. vii. 209 Plants which cannot form aerenchyma appear to be intolerant of wet habitats. |