Bark Formation and Definition

The bark is developed from the tissues of the young stem due to the activity of two circles of meristematic cells: the inner circle, which is the vascular cambium, and the outer circle, which is the phellogen (cork cambium). The vascular cambium produces wood (2nd xylem) towards the interior of the stem and bast (2nd phloem) towards the exterior. The cork cambium (phellogen) produces cork cells (phellen) towards the exterior and phelloderm (Secondary cortex or Cork parenchyma) towards the interior.

The three main areas of the composition of the bark external to the vascular cambium are: outer bark, middle bark, and inner bark.

The outer bark includes all tissues produced on the outer side of the cork cambium (phellogen) and is the cork region, with cell walls impregnated with suberin.

<p>The middle bark is the area between the outer bark (cork) and the phloem (inner bark), and it is the cortex region.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The significance of the shapes of bark during drying is that the bark tends to curve transversely, resulting in various concave forms but remains longitudinally straight.</p> Signup and view all the answers