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polycyclic dictyostele
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Botanical diagram showing various stem structures in ferns, including cross-sections of protostele, siphonostele, dictyostele, and polycyclic dictyostele, with labeled tissues such as cortex, pith, xylem, and phloem. The image also depicts a tree fern with a labeled trunk and horizontal rhizome, and includes examples of root types: monarch, diarch, and triarch.
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polycyclic dictyostele

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Botanical diagram showing various stem structures in ferns, including cross-sections of protostele, siphonostele, dictyostele, and polycyclic dictyostele, with labeled tissues such as cortex, pith, xylem, and phloem. The image also depicts a tree fern with a labeled trunk and horizontal rhizome, and includes examples of root types: monarch, diarch, and triarch.
fern stem anatomy Stem structures in ferns.

A polycyclic dictyostele is a complex vascular structure found in the stems of some ferns. It is a type of stele, which is the central cylinder of vascular tissue in a plant stem.12

In a dictyostele, the vascular cylinder is broken into a network of interconnected vascular strands surrounding a central pith. This arrangement means that a cross-section of the stem shows multiple distinct vascular bundles separated by parenchyma cells called leaf gaps.12

A polycyclic dictyostele takes this complexity further, featuring one stele within another. This structure is found in species like the common bracken fern (Pteridium) and includes specialized hard tissue, or sclerenchyma, between the steles.2

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2 Britannica Sources
  1. dictyostele
  2. fern - Vascular tissues

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