Biology · Anatomy of Flowering Plants · NEET
Grass has an intercalary meristem, a patch of dividing cells at the base of each internode and leaf. When you cut the grass, you remove the tip but not this basal tissue. The dividing cells below the cut keep making new cells, so the grass grows tall again. This is why a lawn needs mowing again and again.
The intercalary meristem. In the NEET 2019 (Odisha) PYQ the answer is intercalary meristem, not apical. The apical meristem sits at the very tip, which grazing animals eat first, so it cannot help. The intercalary meristem stays low and safe, so it regrows the plant.
The apical meristem is at the tip of the shoot. In grazing or mowing, the tip is exactly what is removed or eaten. So the apical meristem is lost. The intercalary meristem is placed lower down at the base of internodes and leaves, so it survives the cut and drives regrowth.
It lies between mature (permanent) tissues, at the base of the internodes and at the base of the leaves. This is common in grasses and other monocots. Because it is 'intercalated' (inserted) between older tissues, it is called intercalary.
It is a primary meristem. Both apical and intercalary meristems are primary meristems that add to the length (primary growth) of the plant. The intercalary meristem is actually a leftover part of the apical meristem, separated from the tip during growth. Lateral meristems (like cambium) add girth and are different.
Regeneration of damaged growing grass following grazing is largely due to:
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
It is dividing tissue found between mature tissues, at the base of internodes and leaves, which helps the plant grow in length.
NEET has directly asked why grazed grass regrows (2019 Odisha). Knowing that the intercalary meristem lies below the cut and is a primary meristem lets you reject the common apical-meristem trap.
No. It is common in grasses and many monocots. In most dicots it is absent or reduced, so they cannot regrow from the base the same way.
They are related but not the same. The intercalary meristem is a leftover piece of the apical meristem that got separated during growth. Both are primary meristems that add length, but the intercalary one is positioned lower, between mature tissues.
No. Increase in girth (thickness) is caused by lateral meristems such as vascular cambium and cork cambium. The intercalary meristem only adds length.
