Fig. 6.8-1a. Longitudinal section of a fern root tip. Root apical meristems, unlike apical meristem of shoots, those of roots are not truly apical because they are covered by a root cap. Notice the large nucleus at the vertical arrow, it is the nucleus of the single apical cell, and all the cells between the two horizontal arrows are part of the root cap. This apex is shown at higher magnification in the next micrograph (Fig. 6.8-1b).