This volume takes a fresh look at the essential nature of meristematic tissues and the manner in which they contribute to the growth and development of the plant. Chapter 1 considers the essential features of meristems, including a discussion of how surgical approaches have contributed to our current view of the shoot apical meristem (SAM), and how these characteristics are beginning to be understood in molecular terms. The molecular mechanisms that underpin the maintenance and function of the vegetative SAM are explored in more detail in chapter 2. Chapter 3 considers the embryonic origin of the SAM, focusing on genetically defined pathways that lead to its formation. Chapter 4 provides a comprehensive review of the remarkable transformation of the SAM that occurs upon flowering, and the formation of SAMs in axillary positions is discussed in chapter 5. Chapter 6 examines the organogenic activity of the SAM, putting forward a new model for explaining the regular initiation of leaves, while the potential for meristematic-like growth during the development of the more determinate leaf is explored in chapter 7. Chapter 8 discusses the relationship of the cell to the apical meristem, giving consideration to how their activities might be coupled. Finally, the essential aspects of the root apical meristem are examined in chapter 9, revealing intriguing parallels as well as differences when compared with the SAM.