Hello friends, in today’s article we are going to talk about the stem, what is the stem of a plant? We will study how it is made, and much more. So without wasting any time let’s start.
What is the stem of a plant?
Except for the root, leaf, flower, and fruit, the part that remains is called the stem.
How is the stem formed of a plant?
See, the plant is formed from one or the other seed, and on top of this seed there are two coverings which are called seed cover or seed coat. What happens inside this seed, is an embryo is found and in this embryo, there are two structures of cells, one of which is called Plumule and the other is called Radicle.
See, when the seed is put in the soil, after getting the mineral elements and water present in the soil, the plumule and radicle present in the embryo start developing, out of which the plumule later forms the stem and the radicle forms the root.
Now you know that the stem is formed from the plumule present in the embryo. When this plumule is formed from a small stem in the beginning, then that small stem is called a pubescent stem. Now, this stem gradually grows and grows and branches, leaves, and flowers emerge from this stem and these flowers later become fruits.
So we are talking about the stem, see there are some swollen areas in the stem which are called nodes. You must have seen it in sugarcane. The region between two nodes is called the internode.
The bud is found at this node and the bud is also found on the top part of the stem, then the bud on the top part is called the apical bud and the bud found on the node or axis is called the axillary bud. Both these buds are a type of meristematic tissue.
What is meristematic tissue?
Cells that divide continuously are called meristematic tissue.
Now the apical bud keeps on dividing and the length of the stem increases. This means this bud which is working to increase the length of the stem. But the axillary bud divides to form a leaf and the stem-like structure in the center of the leaf is called the midrib.
And the loose green part of the leaf is called the lamina or leaf blade. This star gradually gets destroyed. When the lamina is destroyed, the midrib continues to grow further and a structure called a branch is formed.
Now there are nodes and internodes on this branch also. There is an axillary bud at the node and an apical bud at the apex, which divides and enlarges the apical part. But which is axillary bud? It is of two types. Leaf bud and flower bud. The leaf bud divides to form a leaf and the floral bud produces a flower.
Now you must have understood how stem formation takes place.
What is the function of the stem of a plant?
The function of the Stem of a plant –
The stem mainly spreads the branches and serves to maintain the leaves, flowers, and fruits, not only this, but it also conducts water, mineral elements, and photosynthetic substances through the xylem and phloem. But some stems store food, give support, and also do the work of vegetative propagation.
How many types of stems of a plant?
The stem which is there is of three types according to the condition of the land.
- Underground stem
- Aerial stem
- Semi-aerial stem
What is the underground stem of a plant?
Those stems which are found inside the soil are called underground stems. Like – potato, turmeric, ginger, etc.
What is the aerial stem of a plant?
The stem which is completely situated in the air above the ground is called the aerial stem. Such a stem has branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Like – rose, hawthorn, grapes, etc.
What is a semi-aerial stem of a plant?
Those stems have some part inside the ground and some part outside the ground in the air, then such stem is called semi-aerial stems. For example – grass, hyacinth, strawberry, pistia, etc.
Modification of the stem of a plant –
We have seen in stem function that some stems are storing food and these stems modify themselves to store food. For example – potato, turmeric, ginger, zamikand, etc. These stems are found underground, hence they are called underground stems. The zaminkand plant has the longest flower on earth, and the Rafflesia flower is the biggest.
There are some stems that turn into a curved structure like a spring, this structure is called Tendril.
For example, you must have seen cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin, peas, etc in plants. they do is provide support to the weak stem in standing and climbing up.
There are many such plants that have thorns, these thorns are a modification of the stem. You people must have eaten plums and if you have seen this plum tree, then you would know that it has many sharp thorns. Now it comes to the question that what these thorns do. See, these thorns protect the plant from hunters (animals).
Example – Citrus, Bougainvillea.
Due to the lack of water in the desert area, the leaves which are there are converted into thorns to reduce the process of transpiration in the plant there. Now the transpiration decreases but these thorns cannot do photosynthesis and when there is no photosynthesis then from where will the food be made when the food is not made then the plant will dry up but it does not happen.
Why, is because the stem of this plant becomes green and starts working like leaves, that is, in their stem, chlorophyll and little fewer stomata are found than in the leaves, due to which exchange of gases and photosynthesis takes place. The stomata are called lenticels. So much stem is called Phylloclade. Transpiration from this is 1-3% while transpiration from leaves is 90-92%.
Examples – Opuntia, Cactus, Euphorbia.
Also, read – What is the function of root?
Some plants like grass, and strawberries, which have stems, crawl on the ground, and at some distance, these stems take out roots and form a plant, in the same way, from this plant, the stems go ahead by crawling and the roots and plant This is how it goes on. These stems are called semi-aerial stems.
Why are they called semi-aerial stems, some part of their stem is inside the ground and some part is outside the ground, that is, it is in the air, so they are called semi-aerial stems.
In these plants, the old plant which is there dies, and the stems which are there keep forming a new plant. That means these stems are saving these plants from extinction.
Examples – Grass, Strawberry, etc.
Mainly in mint and jasmine plants, a branch or stem comes out from the base of their main stem and it grows in the air for some time and then turns and touches the ground and where it touches, a plant is formed again. Makes it In the same way this process goes on. It means that the stem which is in it is creating new plants.
There are some aquatic plants like Pistia and Eichhornia (hyacinth). Stems emerge from their base and the stems crawl on the surface of the water at some distance these stems form another plant and then the stems from this plant go ahead by crawling on the surface of the water and again form a plant. This process goes on again and again and the number of plants keeps on increasing.
So, friends, I hope that you would have liked the given information about what is the stem of a plant. If you like it then share it on your social platforms.
You will find the answers to all the questions given below in the article, only you have to read the complete article.
- What does the stem of a plant do?
- What is a stem of a plant?
- What is the node of a plant stem?
- What is the function of the stem of a plant?
- Where does the majority of stem growth in a plant occur?
Thank you