Dicots under the Microscope

Dicotyledons (dicots) are a group of flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves. Flowering plants that are not dicots are monocots, having one embryonic leaf.

FEATURE	MONOCOT	DICOT
# of parts of each flower	In 3s	In 4s or 5s
# of furrows or pores in pollen	1	3
# of cotyledons (leaves in the seed)	1	2
Arrangement of vascular bundles in stem	scattered	concentric circles
Roots	adventitious	develop from radicle
Arrangement of major leaf veins	parallel	reticulate

A magnolia is an example of a dicot.

 Dicot captured using a student biology microscope using the MW5-CCD microscope camera.