Epidermis: The human or animal skin, even the plants have various layers and all of these layers combine with each other to form the skin structure. Epidermis also consists as three of these skin layers together to form the skin layer taken as an entire entity of the epidermis. The inner layers of the epidermis include the hypodermis and the dermis together to form the skin altogether. On the other hand, the epidermal layer that is said to be present in the plant body is said to be the boundary that is formed between the plant and the external environment.

Functions of the epidermis: The epidermis servers a number of functions within the body for the regulation of different chemicals present within the body. These functions can be listed as follows:

• The layer of epidermis provides the protection to the human body. It protects the body from any kind of infection of pathogens present in the environment to enter the body.
• The epidermal layer present within the bodies of different organisms also helps in the regulation of water or the amount of the water level that is present in the body and that is released outside the body. These water levels are regulated when the different processes of the trans-epidermal water loss help in the maintenance of the water level that is released from the body.
• The primary function of the epidermis is regarded as the protection of the body that it is a part of. Epidermis is also waterproof in nature, this is why, the skin does not swell every time it comes into contact with the liquids.
• The cellular structure that the epidermis possesses are high barriers against the germs and therefore, bacteria and viruses find it extremely difficult to get inside the bodies.
• In plants, the epidermal layers help in the protections against any kind of water loss and helps in the regulations of the exchanges happening between gases. It also helps in the secretion of the metabolic compounds in the plants focusing mainly on the roots with the proper absorption of the minerals, water and nutrients.
• In the animal body, the epidermal layer also helps in providing the protection from the Ultra Violet rays from the atmosphere and ensures that the beneficial secretions are protecting the layers of the skin right from the inside to the outside.

Layers of the Epidermis: The layers of the epidermis are mostly regarded as the strata. The outermost layer in the epidermis is regarded as the stratum corneum. The word stratum corneum is translated to ‘horny scales’, which forms a very tough structure as the skin layer. The next layers in the epidermis consists of the stratum lucidum, the stratum granulosum, the stratum spinosum and the stratum basale, which is the last layer of epidermis. Stratum Basale and the stratum corneum also consists another two layers that is sandwiched between them, which are the stratum granulosum and stratum lucidum. These all form the basic layers that are found in the epidermis.