Higher Plants - Floral Structures
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Pollen of cactus Zygocactus truncatus
Germinating pollen grains of Zygocactus truncatus.
Fracture through the siliqua of Cardamine hirsuta L.
The plant Cardamine has a type of fruit called a siliqua which is in two parts. At dehiscence, these structures split apart to expel the seeds. The micrograph illustrates the tip of the siliqua which has been fractured open. The capels are separated by a thin membrane, or replum (marked by ‘r’) either side of which sit a seed (marked by ‘s’).
Bar: 100um (inset: 25um)
Oil and waxes in the pericarp of citrus fruit
Within the plant family Zygophyllcaeae is a genus of plants, Citrus sp, which have fruits in the form of large succulent berries. The thick outer fleshy layer of the fruit is a pericarp.
Cells of the pericarp contain a high proportion of waxes and oils which are lost during conventional processing for SEM. Frozen hydrated specimens, however, retain these lipidic materials.
Bar: 25um (inset: 10um)