CAMBIAL BEHAVIOR WITH REFERENCE TO CELL LENGTH AND RING WIDTH IN PINUS STROBUS L.

Abstract

The relationships between width of annual rings, length of wood cells, and frequency of anticlinal (multiplicative) divisions in fusiform cambial cells were studied by reference to trees of various growth patterns. The trees selected ranged from 8 to 20 in. diameter and included both open-grown specimens with branches close to the ground and forest types with tall, slender shafts. Much fluctuation was noted among individual trees, but in general there was, in the peripheral growth, an inverse relationship between length of wood cells and width of annual rings. The frequency of anticlinal divisions in the cambium remained at a more or less uniform rate in trees with rings from 1.5 to 5 mm wide, but rose sharply when ring width fell below 1.3 mm. This was in contrast to the situation observed earlier in Thuja occidentalis where the rise in frequency of anticlinal divisions was slight and occurred only in trees with rings less than 0.3 mm wide.