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cambium
[ kam-bee-uhm ]
noun
- a layer of delicate meristematic tissue between the inner bark or phloem and the wood or xylem, which produces new phloem on the outside and new xylem on the inside in stems, roots, etc., originating all secondary growth in plants and forming the annual rings of wood.
cambium
/ ˈkæmbɪəm /
noun
- See cork cambiumbotany a meristem that increases the girth of stems and roots by producing additional xylem and phloem See also cork cambium
cambium
/ kăm′bē-əm /
, Plural cambiums
- A cylindrical layer of tissue in the stems and roots of many seed-bearing plants, consisting of cells that divide rapidly to form new layers of tissue. Cambium is a kind of meristem and is most active in woody plants, where it lies between the bark and wood of the stem. It is usually missing from monocotyledons, such as the grasses.
- ◆ The vascular cambium forms tissues that carry water and nutrients throughout the plant. On its outer surface, the vascular cambium forms new layers of phloem, and on its inner surface, new layers of xylem. The growth of these new tissues causes the diameter of the stem to increase.
- ◆ The cork cambium creates cells that eventually become bark on the outside and cells that add to the cortex on the inside. In woody plants, the cork cambium is part of the periderm.
- See also secondary growth
cambium
- The layer of a tree where growth occurs, just under the bark.
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Derived Forms
- ˈcambial, adjective
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Other Words From
- cambi·al adjective
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Word History and Origins
Origin of cambium1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of cambium1
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Example Sentences
When summer comes, adult beetles attack and larva feed in the cambium layer, girdling the trees and sealing their doom.
The larv hatch and begin their work by burrowing across the cambium at right angles to the egg galleries.
They are evidently made to get at the tender, juicy bark, or cambium layer, next to the hard wood of the tree.
The bud is rooted in the branch, and draws its sustenance from the milk of the pulpy cambium layer beneath the bark.
In some cases he seems to refer to the phloem and cambium by this name, and in other cases to the perimedullary zone.
Coniferin, C16H22O8, occurs in the cambium of coniferous woods.
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