THE RATE OF ELONGATION OF FUSIFORM INITIALS IN THE CAMBIUM OF PINACEAE

Abstract

This report deals with the rate and amount of elongation of fusiform initials in the cycle of cell elongation and multiplication by pseudotransverse division which accompanies circumferential expansion of the cambium. In the recent growth of mature trees the yearly amount of cambial cell elongation drops as ring width decreases, but not in proportion to the decline in ring width. The cumulative elongation through lineal series of cells, per centimeter of xylem increment, increases as ring width decreases. The amount of cell elongation during the production of several narrow rings greatly exceeds that through a single wide ring having the same total width. It seems clear that the time factor is important in the elongation of cambial cells, and to some extent the interrelated frequency of anticlinal division, particularly when radial growth declines.