Plant tissue consisting of undifferentiated cells that retain the ability to divide and differentiate into specialized cell types. Meristems are found at growing tips of roots and shoots and are responsible for plant growth.
From Greek 'meristos' meaning divided or divisible, coined by Swiss botanist Carl Nägeli in 1858. The term reflects the continuous cell division that characterizes these growth regions.
Meristems are like plant stem cells that never grow up - while most plant cells mature and specialize, meristem cells stay forever young and keep dividing, which is why you can cut a plant and it keeps growing from the tips!
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