Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

cortex

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: cortex
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

In plants, the tissue of unspecialized cells lying between the epidermis (surface cells) and the vascular, or conducting, tissues (see phloem and xylem) of stems and roots. Cortical cells may contain stored food or other substances, such as resins, latex, essential oils, and tannins. Cortical cells in herbaceous stems, young woody stems, and stems of succulents contain chloroplasts and can therefore make food by photosynthesis. Food, usually in the form of starch, in edible roots, bulbs, and tubers is stored mostly in the cortex.

For more information on cortex, visit Britannica.com.

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Archaeology Dictionary: cortex
Top
Home > Library > Science > Archaeology Dictionary

[Ge]

The natural weathered crust found around the outside of a flint nodule.
 
Columbia Encyclopedia: cortex
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Columbia Encyclopedia
cortex, in botany, term generally applied to the outer soft tissues of the leaves, stems, and roots of plants. Cortical cells of the leaves and outer layers of nonwoody stems contain chloroplasts, and are modified for food storage (usually in the form of starch) in roots and the inner layers of stems and seeds. Because of the combination of its soft texture (especially after cooking) and its role as a food storage tissue, the cortex is the predominant plant tissue eaten by humans and other animals.

Gardener's Dictionary: cortex
Top
Home > Library > Home & Garden > Dictionary for Gardeners

In herbaceous plants, the layer of cells in the roots and stems immediately inside the epidermis, or “skin.”

Wikipedia: Cortex (botany)
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Cross-section of a flax plant stem:
1. Pith
2. Protoxylem
3. Xylem I
4. Phloem I
5. Sclerenchyma (bast fibre)
6. Cortex
7. Epidermis

In botany, the cortex is the outer layer of the stem or root of a plant, bounded on the outside by the epidermis and on the inside by the endodermis. It is composed mostly of undifferentiated cells, usually large thin-walled parenchyma cells of the ground tissue system. The outer cortical cells often acquire irregularly thickened cell walls, and are called collenchyma cells. Some of the outer cortical cells may contain chloroplasts. It is responsible for the transportation of materials into the central cylinder of the root through diffusion and may also be used for food storage in the form of starch.

See also


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Archaeology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Gardener's Dictionary. Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners, by Frances Tenenbaum. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cortex (botany)".  Read more