= Trichome
A <trichome> is an outgrowth of the <plant epidermis>, often appearing as a hair or scale. Its cellular construction and function depend on the <plant>. The specialized epidermal <cells> on <Arabidopsis thaliana> leaves and the elaborate surface scales of <Tillandsia usneoides> illustrate why one shape or one role should not define every <trichome>.
A 1994 genetic study isolated more than 70 trichome mutants representing 21 <genes> in <Arabidopsis thaliana>. Comparing their cellular phenotypes separated contributions to <morphogenesis>, rather than treating the mature cell's architecture as one indivisible property.<Genetic dissection of trichome cell development in Arabidopsis by M. Hülskamp and others>[Primary abstract: mutant collection, genes and developmental analysis]{ref}
A different experimental question concerns function. In <Tillandsia usneoides>, intact flexible trichome wings supported surface water spreading more effectively than preparations without those wings. Fluorescent imaging and deformation observations connected the wing array with propagation of a water film.<Domino-like water transport on Tillandsia through flexible trichome wings by Nami Ha and others>[Results and Figure3: intact/removed wings and surface flow]{ref}
These examples separate the formation of a structure from what it does. A mutation changing a cell's form can identify a developmental contribution; removing or altering a surface feature while measuring water movement tests a mechanical contribution. Neither result requires every hairy <plant> surface to use the same genetic program or solve the same ecological problem.
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