A few months ago I planted apple trees in my room. Now I was wondering when a stem becomes a trunk? How long exactly does it take before we can really speak of ‘wood’?
Answer
Dear Dimi,
A trunk is in principle always a stalk…. If I understand correctly what you mean, you probably mean how long it takes for a stalk of the apple to start lignifying. This happens from the moment that it no longer starts to grow in length but in thickness (the so-called secondary thickness growth). Inside the stem, wood is laid, outside bark is produced. This can be seen from the color of many trees such as the apple on the outside of the stem. It changes color from supple and green (primary epidermis) to firm and brown (secondary bark). From that moment on, this stem will no longer grow, but will continue to thicken every year (annual rings).
In apple (Malus domestica), the growth of new shoots starts in the spring from March-April and this growth in length will continue until the end of June. In the meantime, the stem has already started laying wood and by the fall of the leaves in autumn the stem will have completely lignified.
Best regards,
Answered by
drs. Marc Reynders
Biology, systematics and evolution of seed plants. Specialized in tropical Cyperaceae.
http://www.ugent.be
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