The mechanism of cytokinesis in higher plants is distinct from that of animal and yeast cells. Dividing plant cells are separated by the de novo construction of the cell-plate across the inside of the cell. Assembly of this new organelle is directed by a specialized cytoskeletal structure called the phragmoplast, a unique macromolecular scaffold that appears late in mitosis and is composed of intermediate filaments, microfilaments, and microtubules. Secretory vesicles are guided along the phragmoplast cytoskeleton toward the equatorial region of the structure where they coalesce and fuse to form a membranous tubular-vesicular network within which cell wall biosynthesis is initiated. A smoother more plate-like structure develops and extends radially outward as additional vesicles are added to the growing margin of the cell-plate until it ultimately fuses with the parental plasma membrane yielding two daughter cells separated by a common cell wall and extracellular space.