The nucleus is often hidden by chloroplasts in Elodea cells. If, however, it is visible, it generally appears as a faint, grayish lump about the size of a chloroplast, or a little larger. It is often up against the cell wall.
Students who are both patient and determined to see a nucleus are often successful if they first look for a cell that has fewer chloro¬plasts.
It can be viewed via microscopy if the cell is stained. Scientists use a variety of stains to highlight cells and their structures, in order to properly study them under magnification.
Elodea (Anacharis) is a widely distributed pondweed that consists of green, submerged stems surrounded by many narrow, flat leaves attached in a tight spiral around the stem. Each leaf is two cells thick, except along the margins, where it is one cell thick. All of the cells are more or less rectangular in outline, but the cells in the upper layer are larger than those in the lower layer, and it is the larger cells we want to examine closely.
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