Question

What is the commercial source of cork? How is it formed in the plant?

Answer 1

Commercial source of cork

Commercial source of cork is cork oak.

Formation of cork

• Cork is formed on the outer side by phellogen or cork cambium. Phellogen is purely a secondary meristem which generally develops from an outer layer of cortex by dedifferentiation.
• The intercellular spaces disappear. Phellogen cells start dividing on their outer and inner sides.
• Cells formed on the outer side remain compactly arranged.
• They undergo suberisation, get filled with tannins and dye.
• The dead tissue, tannin and air-filled suberised cells formed on outer side of phellogen is called phellem or cork.