Abstract
S chieferstein , R. H., and W. E. L oomis . (Iowa State U., Ames.) Development of the cuticular layer in angiosperm leaves. Amer. Jour. Bot. 46(9): 625–635. Illus. 1959.—The cuticularized layers of leaves and other plant surfaces consist of a primary cuticle, formed by the oxidation of oils on exposed cell walls, plus various surface and subsurface wax deposits. The primary cuticle appears to form rapidly on the walls of any living cell which is exposed to air. Surface wax is present on the mature leaves of about half of the 50 or 60 species studied. In general, wax is extruded at random through the newly formed cuticle of young leaves and accumulated in various reticulate to semicrystalline patterns. No wax pores through the cuticle or primary wall can be observed in electron‐micrographs of dewaxed mature leaves. Wax accumulations on older leaves are generally subcuticular and may involve the entire epidermal wall. These deposits appear to be of considerably greater ecological significance than those on the surface. Isolated cuticular membranes from Hedera helix increased slightly in permeability to water with age of the leaf, but permeability to 2,4‐D decreased 50 times. Evidence based on the patterns of cellulose in primary walls, of surface wax on growing leaves, of the appearance of the cuticle at the margins of growing epidermal cells, of the forms of the cuticle plates digested from growing and older leaves, and of the marginal location of new wax deposits on growing maize leaves is presented to support the thesis that the enlargement of the outer surface of the epidermal cells of leaves occurs at the margins of the surface. Earlier formed cuticle and wax are thus undisturbed during growth. These observations, coupled with evidence for apical growth in fibers, root hairs, etc. suggest that the primary walls of angiosperm cells are formed in specific, localized growth regions, rather than by plastic extension and apposition.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
The primary cuticle appears to form rapidly on the walls of any living cell exposed to air.
Verbatim
t0“ANGIOSPERM LEAVES”
e0“The primary cuticle appears to form rapidly on the walls of any living cell which is exposed to air”
Claim · model-written summary
Surface wax is present on the mature leaves of about half of the 50 or 60 species studied.
Verbatim
t0“ANGIOSPERM LEAVES”
e0“Surface wax is present on the mature leaves of about half of the 50 or 60 species studied”
Claim · model-written summary
In young leaves wax is extruded at random through the newly formed cuticle and accumulates in reticulate to semicrystalline patterns.
Verbatim
t0“ANGIOSPERM LEAVES”
e0“wax is extruded at random through the newly formed cuticle of young leaves and accumulated in various reticulate to semicrystalline patterns”
Claim · model-written summary
No wax pores through the cuticle or primary wall can be observed in electron micrographs of dewaxed mature leaves.
Verbatim
t0“ANGIOSPERM LEAVES”
e0“No wax pores through the cuticle or primary wall can be observed”
Claim · model-written summary
Wax accumulations on older leaves are generally subcuticular and may involve the entire epidermal wall.
Verbatim
t0“ANGIOSPERM LEAVES”
e0“Wax accumulations on older leaves are generally subcuticular and may involve the entire epidermal wall”
Claim · model-written summary
Isolated cuticular membranes from Hedera helix increased slightly in permeability to water with leaf age.
- Taxon
- Hedera helix
Hedera helixe0 - Treatment
- age of the leafe0
- Outcome
- permeability to watere0
- Direction
- increased slightlye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Isolated cuticular membranes from Hedera helix increased slightly in permeability to water with age of the leaf”
Claim · model-written summary
Permeability of Hedera helix cuticular membranes to 2,4-D decreased 50 times with leaf age.
- Taxon
- Hedera helix
Hedera helixe0 - Material
- Isolated cuticular membranese0
- Outcome
- permeability to 2,4‐De1
- Direction
- decreasede1
- Value
- 50 timese1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Isolated cuticular membranes from Hedera helix”
e1“but permeability to 2,4‐D decreased 50 times”
Claim · model-written summary
Enlargement of the outer surface of epidermal cells of leaves occurs at the margins of the surface, so earlier formed cuticle and wax are undisturbed.
Verbatim
t0“ANGIOSPERM LEAVES”
e0“the enlargement of the outer surface of the epidermal cells of leaves occurs at the margins of the surface”
Claim · model-written summary
Primary walls of angiosperm cells appear formed in specific localized growth regions rather than by plastic extension and apposition.
Verbatim
t0“ANGIOSPERM LEAVES”
e0“the primary walls of angiosperm cells are formed in specific, localized growth regions, rather than by plastic extension and apposition”