parenchyma Definition

the essential and distinctive tissue of an organ or an abnormal growth as distinguished from its supportive framework

a tissue of higher plants that consists of thin-walled living photosynthetic or storage cells capable of division even when mature and that makes up much of the substance of leaves and roots, the pulp of fruits, and parts of stems and supporting structures

a spongy layer of irregular chlorophyll-bearing cells interspersed with air spaces that fills the interior part of a leaf below the palisade layer —called also spongy layer, spongy tissue

a layer of columnar cells rich in chloroplasts found beneath the upper epidermis of foliage leaves —called also palisade mesophyll, palisade parenchyma, palisade tissue