Monocot & Dicot Stomata

Walter Piorkowski · Post by **Walter Piorkowski** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 10:05 pm

Monocot & Dicot Stomata

Leitz Ortholux
Brightfield
Leitz 23XW Ultropak Epi objective
10XGF projection eyepiece plus 1/3X relay lens
Upper image-16 images at 1 micron increments incident light
Lower image 25images at 1 micron increments incident light
Canon 10D
CombineZM, Photoshop

Flowering plants are divided into two classes. The monocots have one embryonic seed leaf and the dicots have a pair of leaves. Each have stomata but they take on different shapes due to their guard cells. Although serving the same function, the dicot are kidney shaped and the monocot dumbbell or dog boned shaped. The upper image is the mature leaf of the common crab grass, a monocot. The stoma is closed but the dog bone shapes are visible. The lower shot is from one of the cotyledons of an unknown dicot plant. The four stomata are partially open but the guard cells are not easy to see.

Walt

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:36 am

Colorful images there Walt.

I vaugly remember some of the things in your narrative about plant structure, that I was to supposedly learn while in school (must have been looking at the girls

). Anyway quite interesting reading.

bernhardinho · Post by **bernhardinho** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:35 am

Hi Walter,

I like stomata!! You didn't mention THE important difference between monocots and dicots:

In the first the stomata are arranged in regular rows and patterns all over the place (well, the leaf). In the latter they're arrangend in a rather randomly scattered sort of way.

Talking of girls, Ken: there are moments when these stomata draw my imagination to a rather unbotanic issue, but then again I try to be more scientific again. Never mind!!

Bernhard

Walter Piorkowski · Post by **Walter Piorkowski** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:59 pm

Thanks Ken and Hi bernhardinho. Thanks for adding to my description of these interesting features.

Walt

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 4:18 pm

Beautiful pictures Walter. The second one reminds me of the Abs of some alien creature which grabs ahold of you and sucks your body fluids out by those suction holes (nice sixpack alien

) . (Mind is somewhere in outer space)

Walter Piorkowski · Post by **Walter Piorkowski** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:55 am

Thats really amazing Doug. Charles saw Teddy Roosevelt in my last image and I won't even mention what bernhardinho see's.

Walt