Question

The girth of the plant does not increase by

I. Apical meristem

II. Vascular cambium
III. Cork cambium

• A. I only
• B. II only
• C. III only
• D. I and II
• E. II and III

Answer 1

The correct option is A I only

The vascular cambium has thin walled highly vacuolated cells of two types, the fusiform initials and the ray initials. The fusiform initials are the elongated cells that give rise to secondary xylem and secondary phloem which in turn increase the girth of plants. The cork cambium exhibit meristematic activity and produces cork /phellem towards the periphery and phelloderm on inside i.e. extra stellar growth which in turn increase the girth of plants. Apical meristem is present at the tips of plants parts and serves in the increase in the length of plant parts/plant. Since it does not increase the girth of the plant, option A is the correct answer.