Shoot Apex
In plants, shoots are known to be the new fresh plant parts (leaves and stems) that are about to grow.
The term “apex” means the vertex or the highest point of an object. Therefore the shoot apex is basically the part of the plant wherein young leaves and stems are about to grow, which is normally located at the center of the plant, and on the tips of the older stems.
Terminal bud photograph by Matt Lavin.
The Shoot apex is also known as the terminal bud of plants that grows from 0.1-1.0 mm and consists of the apical meristem, developing leaves and the immediate surrounding leaf primordial.
The shoot apex is present in both dicot and monocot plants. Monocot plants differ from dicot plants due to the vascular bundles that are present in the monocot stem and are concentrated towards the outside.
Shoot apexes of the stems of monocot plants are more elongated than dicots, as dicots form a ring of vascular bundles.
Leaf sheathes grow upward to protect the shoot apex of monocot plants.