the tiny plant below is a stone plant seedling (aizoaceae), growing in the harsh conditions of the “knersvlakte” quartz gravel landscape in north-eastern south africa. the seedling has only formed its first pair of cotyledons, which are already completely covered in epidermal bladder cells:
bladder cells are modified trichomes (hair-like structures) common in the stone plant family (aizoaceae), which are used to remove salt from the plant system.
to give you a better sense of scale, here’s the same view plus my index finger tip:
more information:
- bladder cells: growth and development of mesembryanthemum crystallinum (adams et al., 1998)
- field trip report: namibia and south africa
How lovely plant it is! Could you tell me its name of it? I’d like to germinate it.
Dear Hide,
while I am not sure of the species depicted here, it sounds like mesembryanthemum crystallinum forms similar bladder cells that are well documented.
Dear Markus, I already germinated mesembryanthemum crystallinum :)
however its form isn’t different from your photo’s. My crystallinum form is same as fig A p.174 of this document. Anyway thank you for your comment, I’ll keep to search a heart shape plants!