Petiole base displaying the inverted omega pattern.
Home » Cracking the omega code: hydraulic architecture of the cycad leaf axis

Cracking the omega code: hydraulic architecture of the cycad leaf axis

The ancient order Cycadales (“cycads”), have a pattern of vascular bundles in the leaf axis, seen in transverse section as an inverted “omega”. In the genus Cycas, Tomlinson et al. recreate this system as a 3-dimensional pattern based on images of sequential sections.

Petiole base displaying the inverted omega pattern.
Petiole base displaying the inverted omega pattern.

Each leaflet is supplied by a single trace, from adaxial bundles, renewed by migration of abaxial bundles, which do not interconnect. Distal leaflets are not at a hydraulic disadvantage because they have a direct hydraulic supply. This approach provides a method for comparison with other extant genera, all of which show leaflets supplied by multiple vascular bundles.

botanyone

The Annals of Botany Office is based at the University of Oxford.

Read this in your language

The Week in Botany

On Monday mornings we send out a newsletter of the links that have been catching the attention of our readers on Twitter and beyond. You can sign up to receive it below.

@BotanyOne on Mastodon

Loading Mastodon feed...

Audio


Archive