Tag Archives: Xylem

Live Veins on Bonsai – do they exist?

Most bonsai enthusiasts will have come across the term ‘live veins’ in the context of bonsai. Live veins are areas of living bark surrounded by deadwood. They are often seen on juniper bonsai, where a section of bark twists around the tree in a dramatic contrast to the white deadwood (Sierra juniper are particularly amazing). […] Read more… >

Roots

The roots of your tree are *just* as important as the above-ground parts, with a lot of responsibilities which aren’t immediately obvious. I’ve summarised the main ones here but there is a lot more detail in separate posts with links provided below. So why are roots so important? Points 1 and 2 are fundamental to […] Read more… >

Vascular Cambium

The cambium – or more precisely the vascular cambium – is a layer of cells underneath the outer and inner bark and outside the wood of a tree. It’s officially defined as a ‘meristem’ – that is, a region of cells capable of division and growthref. You may recall the ‘shoot apical meristem’ in the […] Read more… >

Xylem

The xylem and the phloem are the vascular system of a tree; they transport fluid to and from every cell in the plant, via structures that branch, divide and become very small – small enough to be able to reach every cell. But xylem and phloem don’t transport the same substance, like our blood vessels […] Read more… >