Occurrence of vestured pits in the vessels and fibres of New Zealand woods

Abstract

Abstract Vestured pits were observed in the vessels of 26 New Zealand species from 14 genera belonging to 6 dicotyledonous families. Considerable variation in the extent and type of vesturing is noted and illustrated with scanning electron micrographs. Although the vesturess in most species are confined to the pit apertures and chambers, they also spread on to the surfaces of the cell lumen adjacent to the pit apertures in Metrosideros, Leptospermum, and Persoonia. In these species it is not possible to distinguish between the vestures and the particles of the warty layer on morphological grounds. Vestures apparently adhering to the pit membranes were observed in only one species. Vestures were also observed in the fibre pits of nine species, but were not observed in any ray cells.