Dicotyledonous Plants (Dicots)

• 🌼 Examples: sunflowers, peas, oaks and most flowering plants.
• 🌱 Key Feature: They have two seed leaves.

The Layer Game

• Epidermis: The outer layer of cells in all young plants.
• Cortex: Found near the epidermis. Imagine it like the skin just beneath our skin!
• Pith: This is like the center core of the stem, kind of like the cream in a cupcake. (Yum! 🧁)
• Vascular Bundles: Transport tissues located near the epidermis.
  • Xylem: On the inner side. Think of it as a straw drawing water from the roots up to the plant.
  • Phloem: On the outer side. This is like the plant's delivery system, sending food where it's needed.
  • Cambium: These are stem cells lying between xylem and phloem.

Some dicots like the elder plant (Sambucus nigra)

• 🕳️ Has a hollow center instead of a pith. Think of it as a donut!

Others like the cucumber (Cucumis sativa)

• 🌱 They've got two phloem areas in each vascular bundle. Like having two phone lines instead of just one!

And then we have our sunflowers (Helianthus annuus)

• 🌼 They sport sclerenchyma tissue (fibres) next to each vascular bundle. These are like the plant’s support beams, giving the stem its strength.