meristem
noun
mer·i·stem
ˈmer-ə-ˌstem 
: a formative plant tissue usually made up of small cells capable of dividing indefinitely and giving rise to similar cells or to cells that differentiate to produce the definitive tissues and organs
Examples of meristem in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Using optimal thermal energy, the laser explodes cell walls at the meristem, effectively killing the weed from the inside out.
—
Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2025
Evolutionarily, intercalary meristems are miraculous bits of adaptation.
—Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 17 May 2024
The hypothesis of tree immortality has grown popular in the past 20 years as researchers continue to report having found little to no genetic evidence of aging in extremely old trees’ meristem (tissue that generates new cells), Stahle says.
—Robin Lloyd, Scientific American, 24 Dec. 2021
Emma Erler, landscape and greenhouse field specialist at the University of New Hampshire Extension, says every plant has a meristem, a type of tissue that contains cells that can develop into different plant parts.
—Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2021
My multi-stemmed smoke tree (Cotinus obovate), which has been in the ground three years, has developed on one stem a die-back from the base toward the meristem of the sub-laterals in the course of three days.
—oregonlive, 31 July 2021
One day, Eugenio Azpeitia, then a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Godin’s lab, remembered a gene that was known to change the size of the central zone of the meristem.
—New York Times, 8 July 2021
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Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 12 Mar. 2025
Evolutionarily, intercalary meristems are miraculous bits of adaptation.
—Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 17 May 2024
The hypothesis of tree immortality has grown popular in the past 20 years as researchers continue to report having found little to no genetic evidence of aging in extremely old trees’ meristem (tissue that generates new cells), Stahle says.
—Robin Lloyd, Scientific American, 24 Dec. 2021
Emma Erler, landscape and greenhouse field specialist at the University of New Hampshire Extension, says every plant has a meristem, a type of tissue that contains cells that can develop into different plant parts.
—Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2021
My multi-stemmed smoke tree (Cotinus obovate), which has been in the ground three years, has developed on one stem a die-back from the base toward the meristem of the sub-laterals in the course of three days.
—oregonlive, 31 July 2021
One day, Eugenio Azpeitia, then a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Godin’s lab, remembered a gene that was known to change the size of the central zone of the meristem.
—New York Times, 8 July 2021
Cite this Entry
“Meristem.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meristem. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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meristem
noun
mer·i·stem
ˈmer-ə-ˌstem
: a plant tissue made up of cells that are not specialized for a particular purpose, are capable of dividing any number of times, and can produce cells that specialize to form the fully developed plant tissues and organs
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