Studies on opposite wood in conifers part II: Histology and ultrastructure

Summary A study has been made of the histology and ultrastructure of opposite wood in Larix laricina, Picea rubens, and Pinus resinosa. The width of the growth rings varied considerably, in one case from 0.1–1.0 mm, with the wide rings containing a much higher proportion of latewood than the narrow ones. The earlywood tracheids were square in outline and more regularly arranged than in normal wood. In the latewood they were sometimes irregular and distorted. The S₃ layer in the tracheids was 0.2 m thick in the earlywood and 0.4–0.8 m in the latewood, as compared to a thickness in normal wood of 0.1–0.2 m in both zones. The S₃ was often buckled in the latewood and was terminated towards the lumen by a spiral thickening. The cell wall structure of the tracheid pit border was described. Normal coniferous wood might be regarded as an intermediate between opposite wood and compression wood.This paper is dedicated to Dean Edwin C. Jahn in honor of his 70th birthday.