Fig. 10.4-5. Low magnification view of olive peltate trichomes. The upper epidermis has two peltate trichomes that were cut near their center, so at least part of the stalk of each is visible. On the lower epidermis there are the tops of numerous peltate trichomes, but only one has its stalk visible. If you were to look at this lower epidermis with a dissecting microscope or SEM, it would be covered with an abundance of overlapping disks. A dense covering of peltate trichomes have many effects on the biology of a leaf: they retain water by inhibiting air movement near the stomata; they make it difficult for many animals to walk on the leaf, and most fungal spores would land on these trichomes, far away from the living cells of the leaf (the trichomes of this leaf were alive when this material was collected and fixed, but most trichomes die soon after they are formed).