An unexplained feature of the vascular cambial activity in fossil and living gymnosperms
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When traced across a growth ring in both fossil and Recent gymnosperm wood, from the earlywood to the latewood, the radial diameters of the tracheids exhibit a variation which is not random. Instead they show a series of gradual increases to a maximum and decreases to a minimum with periodicities of about 6, 9, 11, and 18 cells. Work is described which attempts to explain this effect in terms of differential expansion cells or polyploidy.
Citations
Creber, G.T. 1986. An unexplained feature of the vascular cambial activity in fossil and living gymnosperms. In: D.J. Batten and D.E.G. Briggs (eds.) Studies in Palaeobotany and Palynology in Honour of N.F. Hughes. Special Papers in Palaeontology, 35, 55–62.