by Bob Harms ()

Late Stages of 5-year S. minor ‘Saxophone’

In the image below it would seem that after the eighth leaf node the saxophone-shaped projection is coming to an end, although visible leaf veins indicate that the 180° reorientation of the growth is still occurring, at least in the upper part of this area. But the growth architecture is no longer apparent, the meristem being surrounded by leaf stems. I interpret this as reflecting a change to the subterranean stem mode of development characteristic of S. minor.

To compare with the very different mode of development exhibited by S. palmetto.