Polyhedral cell Shapes

Many authors have discussed the shapes of cells of the parenchyma of plants, and remarked on their similarity of form to bubbles in foam, to the grains of certain metal alloys, and to compressed lead shot, balls of “Plasticene,” and of peas, which have imbibed water while packed in a closed container. In all of these cases the “cells” have a great variety of polyhedral forms, and are closely packed so as to fill space. I will review some of the studies of cell shapes which have been published, and the ideas which have been proposed to account for these shapes. A partial enumeration of the possible polyhedra will be discussed, and some consideration will be given to the packing of these polyhedra.