SUMMARY1. The arrangement of cells at the apex of vegetative shoots of angiospermous plants is examined, and it is concluded that the corpus is not a homogeneous meristem but exhibits the following zones: (i) a central zone of large, lightly staining cells; (ii) a peripheral zone of smaller, darkly staining cells; and (iii) a rib‐meristem.2. The essential similarity between this zonation and that found in gymnosperms is discussed.3. The relationship between this zonation and that first described by Grégoire for the reproductive apex is investigated by tracing the transformation from one to the other in Succisa. It is concluded: (i) that the outer layers of the mantle correspond with the tunica of the vegetative apex, and (ii) that the inner layers of the mantle represent the corpus, which has lost its former division into zones, all its cells resembling those of the peripheral zone.4. The bearing of this transformation on the morphology of the leafy shoot and the flower is discussed, and it is considered that the organization of the apical meristems should not be regarded as essentially different in the vegetative and the reproductive sta