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Ultrastructure of compression wood in Ginkgo biloba

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Summary

Compression wood in the ancient Ginkgo biloba differs from that in most of the younger gymnosperms in the more angular outline of its tracheids, their thinner walls, and their lack of helical cavities. Both normal and compression woods of Ginkgo contain two types of tracheids, one wide, with a thin wall, and another, narrow, with a thicker wall. In all other respects the compression wood tracheids in Ginkgo are ultrastructurally similar to those in other gymnosperms. Helical cavities probably developed relatively late in the evolution of compression wood, since they are missing not only in Ginkgo but also in the Taxales and the Araucariaceae. The occurrence of compression wood in Ginkgo biloba indicates that this tissue probably has existed since the Devonean period. Very likely, the arborescent habit of the gymnosperms has always been dependent on their ability to form compression wood.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse

    T. E. Timell

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  1. T. E. Timell
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This investigation was carried out under the McIntire-Stennis Program, Cooperative State Research Service. I am indebted to Mr. A. C. Day of this College and to Mr. A. Rezanowich of the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada for kindly providing the scanning electron micrographs.

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Timell, T.E. Ultrastructure of compression wood in Ginkgo biloba . Wood Sci. Technol. 12, 89–103 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00350815

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