Maturation in larch: age-related changes in xylem development in the long-shoot foliage and the main stem

As the meristems of eastern larch (Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch) mature, they produce long-shoot foliage with progressively higher chlorophyll content and net photosynthesis and progressively lower specific leaf area (Hutchison et al. 1990). Despite the apparent increase in foliar vigor, both shoot height and diameter growth rates declined during maturation. These changes were associated with changes in xylem morphology of the vascular tissue of both the long-shoot foliage and the main stem. Although the number of xylem cells remained constant in a cross section of the foliage, their diameters increased with age. With increasing maturation, the same number of xylem cells were produced per radial file in the annual rings of the main stem, but their radial diameters decreased, which accounted for the decrease in diameter growth. There was no change in tracheid length during maturation. We conclude that the decrease in growth rate with increased maturation is not due to a decrease in physiological vigor of the foliage, but is a function of reduced sink strength of the growing shoots.