It must be pointed out, however, that there are many exceptions to these characters in both groups, and that no single character in the list below will infallibly identify a flowering plant as a monocot or dicot. For more information, refer to the pages on monocot and dicot morphology. They serve to absorb nutrients packaged in the seed, until the seedling is able to produce its first true leaves and begin photosynthesis. This character is not always reliable, however, and is not easy to use in some flowers with reduced or numerous parts. As with the number of floral parts, this character is not always reliable, as there are many monocots with reticulate venation, notably the aroids and Dioscoreales.
Vascular tissue occurs in long strands called vascular bundles .
These bundles are arranged within the stem of dicots to form a cylinder, appearing as a ring of spots when you cut across the stem. In monocots, these bundles appear scattered through the stem, with more of the bundles located toward the stem periphery than in the center. This arrangement is unique to monocots and some of their closest relatives among the dicots. The radicle gives rise to an apical meristem which continues to produce root tissue for much of the plant's life. By contrast, the radicle aborts in monocots, and new roots arise adventitiously from nodes in the stem.