The Cambium and Seasonal Development of the Phloem in Pyrus malus

Abstract

Evert, R. F. (U. Wisconsin, Madison.) The cambium and seasonal development of the phloem in Pyrus malus. Amer. Jour. Bot. 50(2): 149–159. Illus. 1963.—The cambium in apple consists of several layers of cells at all times, and practically all cambial cells divide periclinally one or more times before undergoing differentiation. The cambial initials do not seem to be in a uniform, uniseriate layer. Judged by collections made during 2 seasons (August, 1958–October, 1960), the seasonal cycle of phloem development is as follows. Early in April, cells in the outer margin of the cambial zone begin to differentiate into sieve elements. At approximately the same time, activity (division) commences throughout the cambial zone. By the end of July or early August, sieve-element differentiation is completed. Cessation of function begins in either late September or in October with the formation of definitive callose on the sieve areas of sieve elements in the outer margin of the functional phloem. By late November, all sieve elements are devoid of contents and most of their companion cells collapsed. Phloem differentiation precedes xylem differentiation by approximately a month and a half; xylem and phloem differentiation cease almost simultaneously; and fiber-sclereid development is coincident with the period of maximal xylem differentiation.