Cambial Structure of Holoptelea integrifolia Planch. in Relation to Age

Abstract

Summary The cambial cells vary considerably in size and number with the girth of stem axis in Holoptelen integrifolia . The length of fusiform initials, after maintaining an almost constant value in the upper portion of the stem, falls around mid of the stem height, and then again increases progressively basewards. The ray cell initials usually increase in number rather than in size, forming rays of varying width and height. The percentage of uniseriate and biseriate rays decreases, whereas that of tetraseriate and multiseriate rays increases. Likewise, abundance of short and tall rays decreases, while that of medium rays increases from the upper part of the stem basewards. The proportion of fusiform initials exhibits an almost gradual decrease with the age of the meristem.