Extraction and analysis of the tangential arrangement of cambial cells in Japanese hardwood species

Abstract

Arrangement of the cambium and marginal zone of xylem were illustrated by drawing the outlines of fusi-form cells and tissue on serial tangential sections in Zelkova serrata and Robinia pseudoacacia with storied cambium and in Albizia julibrissin with non-storied cambium. The comparison of "cambium drawings" with "parenchyma drawings" revealed that the lengths and arrangement of parenchyma strands correspond closely with those of corresponding fusiform initials in all three species with storied or non-storied cambium. Based on this result, we deduced the correlation between length and variation of length and arrangement of the fusiform initials in 20 species of Japanese hardwoods using parenchyma drawings instead of cambium drawings. The species with a smaller variation of length tend to exhibit a storied arrangement regardless of the length of the fusiform initial. Thus, it is suggested that the variation of the length of the fusiform initial has more influence than the length itself on the development of the storied arrangement.