Question

Short / Long answer type questions.
Give an account of the activity of the cambium in the secondary growth of the stem.

Answer 1

The cambial ring formed by the intra and interfascicular cambia becomes active and begins to divide to form new cells, both towards the inner and outer sides by periclinal divisions.

The cambium is generally more active on the inner side than on the outer. This results in more amount of secondary xylem produced are more than secondary phloem. Due to this, the cambium ring expands towards the periphery. The primary and secondary phloem gets crushed due to continuous formation and accumulation of secondary xylem.

The primary xylem remains more or less intact, in or around the centre. Due to these events, secondary xylem keeps on increasing in amount and primary and secondary phloem keeps on gradually crushed.