Palm tree anatomy

[xerophyte_nyc]

Does anybody have some online sources that depict the internal anatomy of Palm trees? I've always wondered what a cross section of a trunking palm looks like - how many spears are hiding inside, what meristematic tissue looks like, etc.

[osideterry]

I hate seeing good questions go unanswered. I did my own search, and these two sites were as good as I could find. You'll have to scroll a ways.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/trjune99.htm

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/webb/...MonoCombo00.htm

[xerophyte_nyc]

Thank you for the efforts. Good stuff, but not exactly what I was looking for. I was hoping to see a photo or diagram of a vertical cross-section through a Palm stem. I'm curious how far down into the stem the spears are found. I guess there is meristematic tissue at the base of a spear which continually adds primordial leaflets until a preset limit is reached and then the next spear gets going?? I'm also curious as to how far down the newly forming leaf does the environment have an impact.

For example, a cold spell can result in stunted leaves later on during their development, so there is obviously a delayed effect. I've noticed with my few Palms that are overwintered indoors, that new leaf morphology is based on the conditions that existed many months prior. Several months of hot summer weather will result in large new leaves even when they unfurl in the early winter indoors. Additionally, when the Palms begin to experience the warm summer weather, the spears that open are smaller than expected, reflecting the less than ideal indoor conditions from the months prior.

[_Keith]

,,,I was hoping to see a photo or diagram of a vertical cross-section through a Palm stem. I'm curious how far down into the stem the spears are found.

I think that is going to vary widely, if not wildly, by both species and age.