2026 Volume 38 Issue 1 Pages 1-2
Plant morphology has its intellectual roots in the concept of organ metamorphosis articulated by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which seeks to understand plant form in terms of transformation and unity. Its development has been closely intertwined with advances in microscopy. In particular, the advent of fluorescence and confocal microscopy enabled the visualization of molecular and organelle dynamics in living plant cells, allowing morphology to be understood within a temporal framework. More recently, super-resolution microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy have made it possible to observe plant cell structures at unprecedented resolution. As a result, morphology is moving beyond the question of “what can be seen” toward addressing “how such forms are generated.” In this sense, the history of plant morphology can be regarded as the history of expanding the visible world. Microscopy is not merely a tool for the precise description of plant form, but also an intellectual framework for interrogating the principles underlying its formation. In this special issue, we revisit this historical trajectory and consider the contemporary significance of “seeing” the principles of life.
