What would happen if you a dicot lawn and tried to mow it?
December 8th, 2008
isaiah`s mommy asked:
Grasses (monocots) from their primary meristem near the ground surface rather than at the tips of branches the way dicots do. How does this feature allow you to grow a lawn and mow it every week in the summer? What would happen if you a dicot lawn and tried to mow it?
Grasses (monocots) from their primary meristem near the ground surface rather than at the tips of branches the way dicots do. How does this feature allow you to grow a lawn and mow it every week in the summer? What would happen if you a dicot lawn and tried to mow it?
I am having trouble answering this question for biology! Please, help!
Powered by Yahoo Answers
1 Comment at "What would happen if you a dicot lawn and tried to mow it?"
Powered by Yahoo Answers
First of all, what’s a meristem? Tissue capable of differentiating into something else… root, shoot, etc.
If the growing points of a plant are at ground level, what happens if you cut the plant 3″ above ground? You’ve not disturbed the meristem — you’ve left it intact for regrowth.
(Grass leaves also have an intercalary meristem, which is why each blade will continue to grow.)
Dicots are a little different: their apical meristems are on the tips (apex) of branches. When you remove an apical meristem from a plant, the balance of auxins in the rest of the plant changes, and lateral buds start to grow into new branches… this is just what happens when you “pinch” a petunia or chrysanthemum to make it bushier — you’ve removed apical meristems and side branches start growing from the lateral buds. The leaves don’t regrow — new leaves from the new branches are mown.