Fig. 6.8-1b. Magnification of the root apical meristem of a fern. The single apical cell is very prominent in this micrograph, or at least its nucleus is. Notice the thin, flat cell between the two arrows: it is a progeny cell of the apical cell, but it was cut off to the forward side of the apical cell. This flat cell will continue to divide, and its progeny cells will become root cap cells. The cells cut off from the other three faces of the apical cell (only two of those three faces are visible here) will all contribute to the root proper. You can even see that these progeny cells divide so as to produce sets of brick-shaped cells that lie parallel to each other.

            The abundant red-stained material is tannin, which is extremely common in ferns.