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Ground Tissue-1

There are two basic types of Ground Tissue
(Parenchyma & Sclerenchyma)

Parenchyma is the principal Metabolic Tissue.

It is responsible for Photosynthesis which is vital for survival.
It is responsible for Water Movement inside plants.
It also stores Starch produced by Photosynthesis.
It contains Crystals which deter Herbivory.
It contains various Pigments and Waste products.

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Parenchyma Cells Containing Starch Bodies (Amyloplasts) Stained with IKI.

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Thin Section of Parenchyma Cells Containing Starch Bodies

Starch is a highly organizedCanaAmyloPolNoPol600Lab.jpg (112885 bytes) polymer of the sugar Glucose. It resembles a Crystal and is birefringent in Polarized Light. The starch bodies on the left are seen with normal illumination. Those on the right are the same but polarized illumination was used. Starch bodies may have characteristic patterns which can be used to identify the kinds of plants used by people in the past. These are from Cana which is an ornamental plant.
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Parenchyma Cells from the stem of ko (Sugarcane): The precipitate shows the presence of Sugar.
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Storage Parenchyma in Seeds may contain large amounts of oil. The darkly stained areas contain vegetable oil.
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Photosynthetic Parenchyma in kohekohe (E. calva)		 PODOLFLAM300PPLab.jpg (76789 bytes)
Photosynthetic Parenchyma in the Leaf of Podocarpus.

PhotosyntheticPALISADECELLSS100.jpg (21423 bytes) Parenchyma Cells tend to have an elongate, cylindrical shape and are called Palisade. This cell is from the Leaf of Hawaiian Silversword.
Note the large disk-like chloroplasts.

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Highly Branched "Stellate Parenchyma" provides air spaces that allow gas circulation inside Stems and Leaves

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