Cambial activity and ray cell abundance in Acer saccharum

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Abstract
The ratio of ray and ray cell initials to fusiform initials of the vascular cambium relative to radial growth rate as reflected in the secondary xylem was studied in stems of Acer saccharum Marsh. Ray initials increased in size as they aged, slowly when growth rate was low, rapidly when it was high, but there was little fluctuation in the number of rays per unit of tangential area; as the cambium increased in circumference, the older, larger rays diverged and new small rays arose in intervening areas, thus maintaining a uniform unit area population independent of growth rate. However, since ray size increased rapidly when growth rate was high, the unit area population of ray cells rose abruptly with accelerating growth rate: the relative volume of xylem ray tissue rose from 8.6 to 12.7% of the total xylem volume when annual ring width increased from 1 to 7 mm. When fast growth was not maintained, the unit area population of ray cells declined slowly as the large rays diverged.

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