Contemporary Problems in Plant Anatomy contains the proceedings of a plant anatomy symposium that took place at Duke University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983. The symposium addressed challenges in four basic research areas in contemporary plant anatomy: leaf development, floral development, differentiation of cells and tissues, and systematic and ecological anatomy. The book highlights new techniques and approaches for dealing with problems in each of these areas. Organized into 12 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the stem-conducting tissues in monocotyledons; the development of vascular tissue patterns in the shoot apex of ferns; the role of subsidiary trace bundles in stem and leaf development of the dicotyledoneae; and the structure of phloem. It then discusses the cellular parameters of leaf morphogenesis in maize and tobacco; alternative modes of organogenesis in higher plants; morphological aspects of leaf development in ferns and angiosperms; the origin of symmetry in flowers; and intraspecific floral variation. The reader is also introduced to structural correlations among wood, leaves, and plant habit; relationships between structure and function in trees; and the development of inflorescence, androecium, and gynoecium with reference to palms. This book is a valuable source of information for plant anatomists.