Welcome to the meristem! A botanical term you may not have heard It is a group of stem or pluripotential cells at the growing tip of shoots & roots The term was first used in 1858 by Swiss botanist Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli in his book Contributions to Scientific Botany and forms all the plant structures such as leaves and flowers. Each terminal bud on an apple tree has a meristem. Unless acted upon otherwise this produces a leaf or vegetative shoot. The stem cells slowly divide and this germinal centre lives on shedding cells that then divide rapidly to form all the structures of the growing shoot. However another fate can await it. It can respond to external influences and become a flower bud. When this happens the central zone depletes and the growth of the shoot then transfers to a bud further down. #meristem #terminalbud #tree #apple #blossom #stemcells
