meristem
noun
mer·i·stem ˈmer-ə-ˌstem 
: a formative plant tissue usually made up of small cells capable of dividing indefinitely and giving rise to similar cells or to cells that differentiate to produce the definitive tissues and organs
meristematic
ˌmer-ə-stə-ˈma-tik
adjective meristematically
ˌmer-ə-stə-ˈma-ti-k(ə-)lē
adverb 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Emma Erler, landscape and greenhouse field specialist at the University of New Hampshire Extension, says every plant has a meristem, a type of tissue that contains cells that can develop into different plant parts. 
Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2021 The hypothesis of tree immortality has grown popular in the past 20 years as researchers continue to report having found little to no genetic evidence of aging in extremely old trees’ meristem (tissue that generates new cells), Stahle says. Robin Lloyd, Scientific American, 24 Dec. 2021 The only problem was that the researchers did not know what gene might control the meristem’s pace of shoot production. New York Times, 8 July 2021 My multi-stemmed smoke tree (Cotinus obovate), which has been in the ground three years, has developed on one stem a die-back from the base toward the meristem of the sub-laterals in the course of three days. oregonlive, 31 July 2021 One day, Eugenio Azpeitia, then a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Godin’s lab, remembered a gene that was known to change the size of the central zone of the meristem. New York Times, 8 July 2021 Saguaro cacti can develop mutations in meristem cells (equivalent to stem cells in animals) on the growing tips of the plant. Athena Aktipis, Scientific American, 1 Jan. 2021 Fasciation may be caused by mutation, virus, bacterial infection by bacterium known as Rhodococcus fascians, or injury to the meristem or growing part of the plant by insect, animal or human. Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, 31 May 2017 See More
Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2021 The hypothesis of tree immortality has grown popular in the past 20 years as researchers continue to report having found little to no genetic evidence of aging in extremely old trees’ meristem (tissue that generates new cells), Stahle says. Robin Lloyd, Scientific American, 24 Dec. 2021 The only problem was that the researchers did not know what gene might control the meristem’s pace of shoot production. New York Times, 8 July 2021 My multi-stemmed smoke tree (Cotinus obovate), which has been in the ground three years, has developed on one stem a die-back from the base toward the meristem of the sub-laterals in the course of three days. oregonlive, 31 July 2021 One day, Eugenio Azpeitia, then a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Godin’s lab, remembered a gene that was known to change the size of the central zone of the meristem. New York Times, 8 July 2021 Saguaro cacti can develop mutations in meristem cells (equivalent to stem cells in animals) on the growing tips of the plant. Athena Aktipis, Scientific American, 1 Jan. 2021 Fasciation may be caused by mutation, virus, bacterial infection by bacterium known as Rhodococcus fascians, or injury to the meristem or growing part of the plant by insect, animal or human. Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, 31 May 2017 See More Word History
Etymology
Greek meristos divided (from merizein to divide, from meros) + English -em (as in system)
First Known Use
1872, in the meaning defined above