Xylary union between elongating lateral branches and the main stem in Populus deltoides

Abstract

The vasculature of elongating lateral branches was examined to determine how vessels produced in the branch unite with those produced in the main stem axis to form a continuous transport system. In a previous study it was found that differentiation of both primary and secondary xylem in a lateral bud or branch is independent of that in the main axis; i.e., xylem does not differentiate into the bud or branch from the main axis. When serial sections of the nodal region are followed downward, the bud vascular cylinder merges with that of the main axis and the adaxially situated bud traces (those nearest the stem) enter the bud gap margin first. The primary vessels of these bud traces differentiate in an oblique downward path along the margins of the bud gap, and they form radial files of primary vessels that lie adjacent to primary xylem of leaf traces in the stem. Traces situated more abaxially in the bud (those farther from the stem) contribute to other radial files of primary vessels, each of which lies progressively closer to the bud gap. Secondary xylem is initiated in the stem before it is in the branch. Consequently, the last-formed metaxylem vessels of the bud traces are continuous with secondary vessels of the stem. These latter vessels lie in the stem secondary xylem immediately external to primary xylem from the bud. Secondary xylem in the branch is initiated when foliage leaves and internodes mature. Secondary vessels formed in the branch traces are continuous with secondary vessels in the stem; these vessels are embedded in a matrix of fibers. Because cambial activity is more vigorous in the stem than in the branch, two vessels that are radially adjacent in the branch may be widely separated by fibers in the stem. The central trace of the axillant leaf enters the gap immediately below the last branch traces; at this level in the stem the leaf trace vasculature is entirely primary. The stem secondary xylem that overlies the leaf trace is continuous with that in the axillary branch.