As noted earlier, plants and animals develop and function differently. While animals use their mobility to look for food, plants are sessile (rooted in one place) and instead grow toward scarce resources, both above (shoots toward the sun) and below the ground (roots toward water and minerals).
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Growth in plants can be either determinate or indeterminate, depending on the organ structure.
Growth in terms of cell numbers occurs at meristems.
Different apical meristems are where growth in cell numbers occurs and gives rise to leaves, stems, flowers, and roots.
At the root meristem, zones of cell division, elongation, and maturation (differentiation) form the tissues of the root and root cap.
The root consists of several tissue layers outside of the inner vascular tissues. These tissues have different arrangements in eudicot and monocot roots.
Secondary growth in eudicots causes increase in diameter and forms wood and bark.
In most animals, growth is determinate: they stop growing when they reach the adult state. Some plant organs, such as leaves, flowers, and fruits, also show determinate growth. But shoots and roots keep growing; such open-