Branched root hairs in <I>Miconia albicans</I> (sw.) Triana (Melastomataceae)

Abstract

The protrusion of the outer wall of a rhizodennal cell represents the first visible stage in the development of a root-hair. Every root-hair consists of an unbranched cylindrical tube with a rounded tipo Root hairs are almost always unicellular. Root-hairs live only briet1y, dying within several days of their fonnation. When growing in soil, root-hairs usually suffer a very considerable reduction in length; the changes in shape that these structures undergo when they contact soil- particles are of even greater interest, because they indicate the physiological significance of the root-hairs in the c1earest possible manner. Variations in the root hairs of Miconia albicans seedlings were studied. M. albicans is a shrub approxirnately 1-1,2m tall; occurring in the Cerrado areas of central Brazil. Branched and swollen tips are structural variations observed in M. albicans root hairs.