Morphoanatomy of the underground system of Androtrichum trigynum (Cyperaceae)

androtrichum has only one species, a. trigynum (spr.) pfeiffer, occurring in coastal regions of the southwestern atlantic coast. it presents an underground system consisting of rhizomes and adventitious roots. the rhizome is thickened, plagiotropic, sympodial, and floral scapes and roots arise from it. from the stem promeristem, the protoderm, procambium and ground meristem are differentiated. at the apex region, the intercalary meristem and primary thickening meristem (ptm) are observed. the adventitious roots originate from the ptm, and present root apex with closed organization. the young epidermis has papillose cells, and meristematic endoderm activity is observed. in a mature root, the outer cortex, or hypodermis, and the internal cortex can be identified. the endoderm presents radially elongated cells with thin walls and the pericycle is biseriate. the anatomical features observed in the present study are found in other species of cyperaceae and some xeromorphic characters can be identified.