In Stellaria media , the common chickweed several hairy appendages were seen on the surface of stem and sepals. These were fixed on a slide and observed under foldscope to study their structure.

It was amazing to see that these were glandular trichomes consisting of a stalk that was either unicellular & uniseriate, unicellular and multi-seriate or multicellular & multi-seriate and small in some cases and quite long in others. The stalk supported a knob-like secretory head . The head probably has the ability to secrete some metabolites and aids in defense.  Observing several different kinds of trichomes on the same plant was a treat to the eyes.

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