THE SHOOT APEX OF BOUGAINVILLEA SPECTABILIS

The shoot apex of Bougainvillea spectabilis consists of five zones: A two- or occasionally three-layered tunica, a central mother cell zone, a cambium-like zone, a rib meristem (central meristem), and a peripheral meristem. The presence of a cambium-like zone is somewhat unusual in the apex of vascular plants, having only been reported for a few taxa. In B. spectabilis the cambium-like zone is consistently present throughout the plastochron and all yearly seasonal periods.