Resin canals or resin ducts are elongated, tube-shaped intercellular spaces surrounded by epithelial cells which secrete resin into the canal. These canals are orientated longitudinally and radially in between fusiform rays.[1] They are usually found in late wood: denser wood grown later in the season.[2] Resin is antiseptic and aromatic and prevents the development of fungi and deters insects.
Types
- Normal resin canals exist naturally in the wood of the genera Picea, Larix, Pinus, Pseudotsuga and Shorea.
- Traumatic, irregularly-shaped resin canals may be formed in wounded trees that do not have normal resin canals. Wounding occurs by fire, freezing or mechanical damage.[2]
Characteristics
Resin canal characteristics (such as number, size and density) in pine species can determine its resistance to pests. In one study, biologists were able to categorize 84% of lodgepole pine, and 92% of limber pines, as being either susceptible or resistant to bark beetles based only on their resin canals and growth rate over 20 years.[3] In another study, scientists found ponderosa pine trees that survived drought and bark beetle attacks had resin ducts that were >10% larger in diameter, >25% denser (resin canals per mm2), and composed >50% more area of per ring.[4]
References
- ^ "Resin Canal (also called Resin Duct)" (PDF).
- ^ a b Wheeler, Elisabeth. "SOFTWOOD ANATOMY...RESIN CANALS". www4.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- ^ Ferrenberg, S., Kane, J.M. & Mitton, J.B. Oecologia (2014) 174: 1283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2841-2
- ^ Kane, J.M. & Kolb, T.E. Oecologia (2010) 164: 601. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1683-4
Further reading
John G. Haygreen, Jim L. Bowyer: Forest products and wood sciences. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, 1996 (3rd ed.), ISBN 0-8138-2256-4
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