Distribution of gelatinous fibers in seedling roots of living cycads

摘要

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: The presence of gelatinous (tension) fibers (GFs) in the roots of two extant cycadales (Cycas and Zamia) in a recent publication raises interesting issues of GF distribution in seed plants. An immediate question that arises from this discovery is whether GFs occur consistently in the radicle of all extant cycad genera and therefore might have a similar role in root contraction. We present results of a survey of nursery-grown material of all 10 genera.