%0 Journal Article
%T Cracking the omega code: hydraulic architecture of the cycad leaf axis
%A Alison Ricciardi
%A Brett A Huggett
%A P Barry Tomlinson
%J Archive of "Annals of Botany".
%D 2018
%R 10.1093/aob/mcx181
%X The leaf axis of members of the order Cycadales (¡®cycads¡¯) has long been recognized by its configuration of independent vascular bundles that, in transverse section, resemble the Greek letter omega (hence the ¡®omega pattern¡¯). This provides a useful diagnostic character for the order, especially when applied to paleobotany. The function of this pattern has never been elucidated. Here we provide a three-dimensional analysis and explain the pattern in terms of the hydraulic architecture of the pinnately compound cycad leaf
%K Cycas revoluta
%K cycad
%K omega pattern
%K anatomy
%K xylem network
%K xylem hydraulic architecture
%U https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5838846/