Cover illustration: The photograph is of a prickle hair in a young, mature leaf of bamboo. The image to the right shows the results of SEM–EDX analysis on the same field as pictured in the photograph to the left. Microscopic techniques were used to study silica deposition in relation to ageing of bamboo leaves after maturation. Silica deposition processes differed depending on the cell types comprising the leaf. Prickle hairs deposited silica densely and continuously after leaf maturation. The silica deposits in the prickle hairs may play a role in protecting the leaf surface. See Motomura et al., pp. 235–248.
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