Modifications structurales des faisceaux vasculaires primaires de la tige de Cordyline indivisa (Agavaceae). 1. Analyse du patron de conversion
In Cordyline indivisa Kunth, the primary bundles change from the collateral type (distal part) to the amphivasal type (proximal part). This conversion is related to the pattern of the longitudinal course of the bundles. Ontogenically, this reflects the two stages in the construction of a vascular bundle: the formation of the lower segment, characterized by its indefinite distal end and its subsequent junction with a leaf primordium. That part of the lower segment, which is amphivasal when fully differentiated, is axial in nature; its differentiation proceeds independently of the junction with the primordium. The collateral and intermediate stages are characteristic of the junction strand and that part of the lower segment having a reoriented differentiation. Since their presence depends on the junction with the primordium and is under the influence of the latter, we relate them to the leaf trace. According to our view of vascularization, each "developmental unit" consists of an axial segment which extends in a leaf trace; new axial bundles may be emitted from one part or the other. Consequently, our definition of the leaf trace is opposed to the classical one which states that the leaf traces diverge at intervals from continuous axial bundles.