Reactivation of Vessel Production in Ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) Trees

Stages of earlywood vessel development have been compared withstages of bud and shoot growth throughout 12-year-old treesof ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.). Reactivation of vessel productionwas not simultaneous throughout the tree. There was evidencethat vessel expansion progressed basipetally down branches andacropetally up the main stem. The earliest expanding vesselswere found scattered around the circumference of main stem andbranches about 3 weeks before the emergence of foliage leavesfrom the buds. Other vessels expanded later between the earlierones so the whole of the first earlywood layer was expandingby 1.5 weeks before leaf emergence; this is suggested as a convenientstage to use as a baseline for a model of wood production inash. Vessel maturation progressed basipetally down the mainstem as well as branches, the first mature (presumably functional)vessels appearing in the upper stem shortly before leaf emergence.Mature vessels were not found in the lower part of the mainstem until after the beginning of rapid leaf expansion afterbudbreak, contrary to a previous assumption that functionalearlywood vessels are of necessity produced before leaf expansionin ring-porous trees. Patterns of vessel expansion are comparedbetween the ring-porous ash and the diffuse-porous sycamore;these data suggest that expansion of earlywood vessels beganat the same time in relation to budbreak in the two species,but the location of the first vessel expansion differed. ash, cambial reactivation, Fraxinus excelsior L., ring-porous hardwood, vessel expansion, vessel maturation