Salvinia leaves. II. Morphogenesis of the floating leaf

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Abstract
The floating leaves of Salvinia arise in a manner not previously described in plants. Leaf morphogenesis is the result of meristematic activity in the leaf apical cell and two abaxial meristems. These abaxial meristems originate in the dorsal sectors of the primordium and are separated from one another by a notch which runs the length of the primordial blade region. Each meristem consists of a single longitudinal file of cells which increases the width of the blade panel by strict anticlinal divisions. These anticlinal derivatives divide periclinally to establish the cell layers of the lamina. Unlike most dorsiventral leaves in which the blade is produced by a marginal meristem. Salvinia floating leaf blade panels increase radially by the action of these abaxial meristems. Thus, the leaf surface exposed to the air is morphologically the abaxial surface and that in contact with the water is the adaxial surface. Leaf differentiation and maturation are acropetal in the longitudinal direction and from the midvein to the margins in the horizontal direction.

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