Shoot apical meristem
The sections below are longitudinal, paraffin sections in a young shoot tip of Spinacia oleracea. The sections have been stained with hematoxylin to reveal mitosis. On the first section the shoot apical meristem (shoot apex) appears as a densely stained dome. On both flanks of the meristem, we observe leaf primordia with numbers (1 to 4) corresponding to order of their iniation.
Shoot apical meristem at higher magnification. It is made up of small, joined cells (dotted red oval). The leaf primordia initiated on the flanks of the meristem are indicated by numbers 1 to 3. The last one (number 3 ) is a small bulge on the left side.
