Talk:Epidermis (botany)

I had no idea that the that the epidermis is the outer layer of cells on a plant ! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.250.161.142 (talk) 13:49, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Water going IN through the epidermis.
If anyone has information on the manner in which water passes INTO a leaf or stalk through the epidermis, perhaps this would be a good place to share it.

As in most descriptions of plant surfaces, this article’s emphasis is on how water is prevented from passing through the plant epidermis. However, I have encountered many casual references to water entering through the epidermis and being used by the plant. Actual information on how this is accomplished is not so easy to find!

Bromeliads, of course have trichomes on their leaves to absorb water. That is easy to understand.

Cactus in fog deserts are described as not only mist-dripping water to their roots, but as absorbing mist water ‘through their epidermis’. How? Some say water enters through cracks in the epidermis. I have read that stomata are blocked by liquid water on the leaf surface, so something must change if the stomata are accepting water into the plant. Could water vapor alone be adequate? In BREAZEALE’s tomato plant experiment, mist was used to keep the plants hydrated through their leaves with no water at their roots. (They also survived with only high humidity.) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC437449/pdf/plntphys00261-0049.pdf

There are many questions about this on the internet and many contradictory answers. It would be nice if Wikipedia could put together a state-of-the-art answer, even if it’s only ‘Nobody knows for sure but here are the most probable ways.’  Zipzip50 (talk) 02:39, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

Well, there is more up-to-date information: Martin & von Willert (2000) found evidence of hydathodes absorbing mist-deposited water. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1055/s-2000-9163/abstract Zipzip50 (talk) 03:31, 20 October 2011 (UTC)


 * There is an article here on foliar feeding which is relevant, and which also needs significant improvement.  Plant surfer  09:05, 29 August 2015 (UTC)