meristemn.

1872 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 162 304 The cortical layers appear to be composed of meristem; that is, they do not grow from any true cambial structure, but by the division of the preexisting cells of all the parts.

1880 C. E. Bessey Bot. vi. 86 In most of the plants outside of the Phanerogams the primary meristem is the result of the continually repeated division of a single mother-cell situated at the apex of the growing organ.

1908 W. R. Fisher Schlich's Man. Forestry (ed. 2) V. i. i. 9 The widening of the cells of the meristem, or primary growing tissue of the yearling shoot, is caused by the water taken from the plasmic contents of the nascent organs.

1934 L. W. Sharp Introd. Cytol. (ed. 3) iv. 69 The differentiated plastids seen in mature tissues may be traced back to plastid primordia, or proplastids in the young cells of the meristem.

1967 Times 15 Mar. 7/1 The revolutionary method of propagating orchids by ‘meristem’ cuttings aroused great interest yesterday... This new method consists of cutting a tiny piece from the centre of the stem of an orchid..and placing it in a tube of culture solution. In two months this meristem cutting proliferates, producing as many as 20 tiny plants.

1990 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) July 376/2 A new virus-tested trumpet cultivar..(freed from viruses by meristem propagation), was featured.