Insoluble polysaccharides like starch grains and PAS positive cytoplasmic substances occuring in cell wall were determined qualitatively and correlated with cellular growth and differentiation of shoot apex during transition from vegetative to reproductive phase. The transition is marked by the degradation of starch grains in the pith rib meristern cells, an increase in the PAS reaction in the cell walls and cytoplasm of the peripheral region of the appex, an increase in the height of the apical dome and formation of successively smaller primary branch prirnordia on the surface of dome. The degradation of strach grains prior to primary branch prirnordia formation appears to have some role in the organogenic process.
