Cuticle

Cuticle [ Biology ]	Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names
Adjective: Cuticular

In a general meaning the cuticle is a noncellular exterior covering of the body wall of an animal, plant or fungus. The cuticle serves as a protective barrier for the inner layers and forms a barrier to water movement out of the tissue.

[ From Latin "cuticula" diminutive of "cutis", the skin) ]

Cuticle [ Botany ]


*Layer of cutin or wax covering on the outer surface of* *the aerial parts of higher plants that reduces water loss.* *The outer layer of the epidermis, which is often waxy.*

In botany the cuticle is the waxy covering produced by the epidermal cells of leaves, fruit and young stems that protect the plant from dehydration and disease. The cuticle forms a barrier to water movement out of the tissue and is thicker in plants living in dry climates than in those from wet climates, and tends to be thicker on the top of the leaf. Cactus and succulents have usually a thick cuticle.

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Holdfast roots [ Botany ]
Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.

Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994