At the very tip of a growing shoot or root, one thin layer of busy young cells wraps around everything. That layer is the protoderm, and it becomes the plant's skin.
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Plants grow longer at their tips. At each tip is a group of young cells that keep dividing. The outermost layer, just one cell thick, is the protoderm (say it: PRO-toe-derm).
Protoderm cells are small and box-shaped, with thin walls and a big nucleus. They divide side by side, so the layer stays one cell thick as it grows.
Press Light up the outer layer on the 3D model to find the protoderm.
As the tip grows, protoderm cells grow up into the epidermis, the plant's skin. That skin includes many kinds of cells:
The fuzzy hairs on a leaf and the tiny root hairs that drink water both started out as protoderm cells!
By SciShow Kids. A fun video for kids.
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