Monocot Root Diagrams Unlabeled – Blank Cross Sections

All 13 parts on the diagram

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Cut across 7

Epidermis The outer skin of the root. Root hairs grow from it.
Exodermis The outermost layer of the cortex, with corky walls.
Cortex The wide band of thin-walled cells around the core.
Endodermis The innermost layer of the cortex. It rings the core.
Pericycle The layer just inside the endodermis. Side roots begin here.
Vascular tissue A ring of xylem and phloem around the pith.
Pith Soft thin-walled cells that fill the center of the root.

Up close 4

Metaxylem The wide xylem vessels. They form after the protoxylem.
Protoxylem The first xylem to form, with narrow vessels.
Phloem Clusters of small cells between the xylem arms.
Passage cell A thin-walled cell of the endodermis. It faces a xylem arm.

Compare 2

Monocot root Many xylem arms in a ring around a pith.
Dicot root A few xylem arms that meet in the center.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-03 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) National Council of Educational Research and Training (India), Biology, textbook for class 11, chapter 6, Anatomy of Flowering Plants, sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 and figure 6.6, read on archive.org, https://archive.org/details/ncert-kebo1 : the monocot root has epidermis, cortex, endodermis, pericycle, vascular bundles and pith; the innermost layer of the cortex is the endodermis; lateral roots begin in the pericycle; usually more than six (polyarch) xylem bundles in the monocot root, pith large and well developed; in the dicot root usually two to four xylem and phloem patches, pith small or inconspicuous; the figure names root hair, epidermis, cortex, endodermis, pericycle, phloem, protoxylem and metaxylem. (2) G. Haberlandt, Physiological Plant Anatomy, English edition of 1914 (public domain), https://archive.org/details/physiologicalpla00habeuoft : the suberized exodermis, the outermost layer of the cortex; diarch to polyarch bundles; the xylem plates may meet at the center or the center is a parenchymatous pith; pericycle, endodermis; passage-cells of the endodermis, thin-walled, always opposite the xylem plates and against the first-formed vessels, in Liliaceae and Orchidaceae among others. (3) J. N. Martin, Botany for Agricultural Students, 1919 (public domain), https://archive.org/details/botanyforagricul00mart : root hairs, cortex, endodermis, pericycle, the vascular cylinder with xylem and phloem; the xylem in the center with strands like the spokes of a wheel and the phloem between the spokes; lateral roots develop from the pericycle. (4) Wikipedia, Root, Endodermis, Exodermis, Pith, Xylem and Stele (biology), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root : root hair, epidermis, cortex, endodermis, pericycle, vascular tissue; passage cells are endodermal cells that keep thin walls; the exodermis is the outer layer of the cortex; pith is soft parenchyma, and in monocots it is found in roots; protoxylem forms first with narrower vessels, metaxylem later with wider ones, and in roots the protoxylem is toward the outside. (5) J. M. Coulter, C. R. Barnes and H. C. Cowles, A Textbook of Botany, volume 1, 1910 (public domain), https://archive.org/details/textbookofbotany01couluoft : protoxylem and metaxylem; exarch, the protoxylem external to the metaxylem. (6) University of Florida, IFAS, Plant Propagation, Cell Types: Xylem, https://propg.ifas.ufl.edu/01-biology/02-cell-types/12-celltypes-xylem.html : primary xylem is made of protoxylem and metaxylem. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry; own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

These monocot root diagrams are unlabeled and share one sheet: the whole root cut across, with seven rings and bands to name, then the core up close, then two small sections side by side.

Read the full guide

The word list for the three drawings

Whole section, from the outside in: epidermis, exodermis, cortex, endodermis, pericycle, vascular tissue and pith. Core up close: metaxylem, protoxylem, phloem and passage cell. Side by side: monocot root and dicot root.

Which ring is which

On the first drawing five lines stop on rings, so count inward. The ring that carries the hairs is the epidermis, and the ring pressed against it is the exodermis. The wide band of round cells is the cortex. Two thin rings wrap the core: the outer is the endodermis and the inner the pericycle. In the second drawing, a wide tube at the inner end of a row is metaxylem, and a narrow tube at its outer tip is protoxylem.

The hairs on the outer ring are root hairs. Each is one epidermis cell grown long, and it takes no line.
A textbook may print epiblema for the epidermis of a root.

Questions and answers

What does polyarch mean in a monocot root?

Polyarch means many xylem bundles in one root: usually more than six in a monocot. A dicot root has fewer, usually two to four. The monocot root on this sheet is drawn with twelve.

What type of vascular bundle is found in a monocot root?

Radial. Xylem and phloem do not share a bundle as they do in a stem. They stand in separate patches on alternate radii, so each cluster of phloem sits between two rows of xylem.

Does a monocot root have secondary growth?

No. Monocot roots do not undergo any secondary growth. A dicot root differs: a cambium ring later develops between its xylem and its phloem.

Is the xylem of a monocot root exarch or endarch?

Exarch. In a root the protoxylem lies toward the outside and the metaxylem toward the center. A stem is the other way around, endarch, with its protoxylem toward the pith.