Epicotyl

Epicotyl [ Botany ]

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

The part of the stem of an embryo or of a seedling between the cotyledons and the first true leaves.

[From Greek “epi” = above + cotyledon]

The epicotyl is the equivalent of the stem in a germinating seedling. It is the vegetative axis above the attachment point of the cotyledons and below the fist true leaves (although not all plants have one), which is responsible for initial upward elongation growth and develops into the stem.

See also: Hypocotyl

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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