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Explore Scientific Smart Microscope Slide: Pine Stem (English)

Explore Scientific Smart Microscope Slide: Pine StemPine trees provide an important food source for animals during winter. Needles, twigs, bark, and seeds contained in the cones provide nourishment for wildlife. Some animals eat the seeds of pinecones, while deer and black bears sometimes will eat tree bark. Woodpeckers are known to take advantage of the soft wood of pine trees to find larvae.

The roots, trunk, and stems of the Pine Tree contain the primary vascular pathways, delivering water, resin, and nutrients.  

Under the microscope at about 300x-400x you can identify at the center of a thin sliced and dyed specimen of a pine stem, the pith, which is the soft region comprised of parenchyma cells. These cells can be seen as the marrow of the tree, transporting nutrients throughout the plant and storing nutrients within these cells. Also easily noticeable are ducts through which resin flows to help heal wounds in the bark and seal off insect damage. 

 

Microscopes from Explore Scientific

 

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