Radial fissures in the early wood of conifers

Abstract

In certain conifers anatomical evidence suggests that young trees may become exposed to conditions conducive to collapse during late wood formation, causing partial collapse and radial cleavages in the early wood. Living ray cells are exposed to the cavity after cleavage. Different species show different responses conditioned by the anatomy and physiology of the ray parenchyma. The cavities fill with cellular tissue in radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don), with resin in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga tarcifolia (Poir.) Britt.), and remain empty in white spruce (Picea glauoa (Moench) Voss). Evidence is presented to show that when a living protoplast is given free access to moist air, a powerful growth stimulus is applied to the cell. In radiata pine, ray parenchyma cells have primary walls only, and the response is a proliferation of these cells. In Douglas fir and white spruce, the ray parenchyma has secondary thickening and small ray tracheid pitting, precluding growth. The response is an increased metabolic rate, producing resin in Douglas fir (heartwood-forming species) and without solid end-products in white spruce (species with little contrast between sapwood and heartwood).