Bud and cambial zone phenology of lateral branches from Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii) seedlings

Abstract

Bud and cambial zone phenologies of outdoor-grown, containerized seedlings of Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco (Douglas-fir) were determined and compared. Morphological characteristics of the live primordial shoots were related to known stages of bud development, while cambial zone phenology was based on anatomical characteristics. Secondary growth in branches of P. menziesii seedlings was separated into six stages: (i) early wood formation; (ii) latewood formation; (iii) cessation of cambial cell division; (iv) dormancy; (v) cambial cell expansion; and (vi) resumption of cell division. Early wood formation by the cambial zone, and primary leaf initiation in the shoot tips occurred until July. During this time of maximal activity, differences in wall thickness and shape distinguished cambial cells from vascular cells in early differentiation stages. By late July, earlywood formation was changing to latewood formation and bud-scale initiation had begun. The transition to preformed leaf initiation in the buds occurred over a period of 1 month in August and September. Cambial cell division ceased in early September but tracheid differentiation continued until about the end of October. Preformed leaf initiation lasted until the buds became dormant in mid-November. The cambial zone was dormant from the end of November until the beginning of March, and in transverse section was characterized by a distinct boundary at the border of the xylem and regular, cigar-shaped cambial cells with thick radial walls. Resumption of cambial activity in the 1st week of April began with radial expansion, followed about 2 weeks later by cell division. Differentiation of earlywood tracheids and bud swelling began in early April. The majority of buds flushed in the 3rd week of April. Rays in the lateral shoots were composed of monoseriate files of radially elongated cells. Ray initials were not observed. Ultrastructural features indicated that the dictyosomes of the cambial cells were active during the winter period.