Palisade cell Palisade cell Palisade cells are plant cells located in leaves, right below the epidermis and cuticle. They are vertically elongated, a different shape from the spongy mesophyll cells beneath them in the leaf. Their chloroplasts absorb a major portion of the light energy used by the leaf. Palisade cells occur in dicotyledonous plants, and also in the net-veined monocots, the Araceae and Dioscoreaceae. Palisade cells contain the largest number of chloroplasts per cell, which makes them the primary site of photosynthesis in the leaves of those plants that contain them, converting the energy in light to the chemical energy of
Photosynthesis water, and the availability of suitable temperatures for carrying out photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis provides the main input of free energy into the biosphere, and is one of four main ways in which radiation is important for plant life. The radiation climate within plant communities is extremely variable, with both time and space. In the early 20th century, Frederick Blackman and Gabrielle Matthaei investigated the effects of light intensity (irradiance) and temperature on the rate of carbon assimilation. These two experiments illustrate several important points: First, it is known that, in general, photochemical reactions are not affected by temperature.