Sympodial means "with conjoined feet", and in
biologyBiology is the natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy...
is often used to refer to the outward
morphologyIn biology morphology is the form, structure and configuration of an organism.This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs...
or mode of growth of
organismIn biology, an organism is any living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole...
s.
Plants with sympodial growth have a specialized lateral growth pattern in which the apical
meristemA meristem is the tissue in all plants consisting of undifferentiated cells and found in zones of the plant where growth can take place....
is terminated. The apical meristem can either be consumed to make an inflorescence or other determinate structure, or it can be aborted. Growth is continued by a lateral meristem, which repeats the process.
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Sympodial means "with conjoined feet", and in
biologyBiology is the natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy...
is often used to refer to the outward
morphologyIn biology morphology is the form, structure and configuration of an organism.This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs...
or mode of growth of
organismIn biology, an organism is any living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole...
s.
In botany
Plants with sympodial growth have a specialized lateral growth pattern in which the apical
meristemA meristem is the tissue in all plants consisting of undifferentiated cells and found in zones of the plant where growth can take place....
is terminated. The apical meristem can either be consumed to make an inflorescence or other determinate structure, or it can be aborted. Growth is continued by a lateral meristem, which repeats the process. The result is that the stem, which may appear to be continuous, is in fact derived from multiple meristems, rather than a monopodial plant whose stems derive from one meristem only.
An example is the orchid
LaeliaLaelia, abbreviated L in horticultural trade, is a small genus of eleven species from the orchid family . This is one of the most important and popular orchid genera, because of the beautiful flowers, their genetic properties and because they are fairly easy in culture. It is probably named after...
(see illustration). The apical meristem of the
rhizomeIn botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
forms an ascendent swollen stem called a
pseudobulbThe pseudobulb is a storage organ derived from the part of a stem between two leaf nodes.It applies to the orchid family , specifically certain groups of epiphytic orchids, and may be single or composed of several internodes with evergreen or deciduous leaves along its length.In some species, it is...
, and the apical meristem is consumed in a terminal inflorescence. Continued growth occurs in the rhizome, where a lateral meristem takes over to form another pseudobulb and repeat the process. This process is evident in the jointed appearance of the rhizome, where each segment is the product of an individual meristem, but the sympodial nature of a stem is not always clearly visible.