BLOCKY phytoliths with bordered pits in Picea abies
- Post by: Doris Barboni
- June 8, 2020
- No Comment
Thank you Zsuzsa for this post
on remarkable phytoliths!
Silica reliefs of the bordered pits in Gymnosperms
A cubic-like BLOCKY phytolith morphotype and its anatomical position were described in Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] H.Karst) needles that are characteristic. These phytoliths are located in the transfusion tissue. They form a specific phytolith layer becoming continuous towards the apex of the needle. The silicic acid is probably trapped in the transfusion tracheids and/or stored in the transfusion parenchyma cells close to the endodermis in the Picea abies needles, and this is the origin of the cubical BLOCKY phytoliths. We hypothesize that silicic acid is being concentrated in the transfusion tissue near the endodermis at a higher level than in the xylem and does not enter the endodermis (Lisztes-Szabó et al. 2019).
