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Detail of a transverse section of a monocot root: endodermis

Legend:

1  cortex
3  passage cells
4  pericycle
2  endodermis

English name: Greenbrier
Scientific name: Smilax sp.
Familia: Smilacaceae
Classis: Monocotyledonas
Phylum: Angiospermae
Regnum: Plantae

The walls of the endodermis cells are extremely thick, preventing water transport through this barrier. Only a few endodermal cells lack these wall thickenings: these are the so-called passage cells. Water transport from the cortex to the central cylinder is only possible through the cytoplasm of these cells. The endodermis constitutes in this way a selective barrier