Abstract Detail

100 years of Baileyan Trends – Wood Evolution, Function and Future

Baas, Pieter [1], Wheeler, Elisabeth [2].

Irving Widmer Bailey’s Contributions to Wood Anatomy.

I.W. Bailey (1884-1967) is mostly remembered for his comprehensive hypothesis on the evolution of xylem attributes in angiosperms (see Wheeler & Baas in this session). However, his genius also extended to other fields in wood anatomy, most notably concerning 1) bordered pit structure and function in conifers, and their significance for the preservative treatment of timber; 2) cytology and activity of the vascular cambium; 3) ultrastructure of the woody cell wall, accurately predicting the microfibrillar organization and microfibrillary directions from X-ray diffraction and polarized light microscopy (with T.Kerr, M.R. Vestal and E.E. Berkley) long before the application of electron microscopy; 4) structure and systematic and diagnostic significance of vestured pits throughout the dicotyledons; 5) setting standards for identification of living and fossil woods, by exploring intraspecific variation in wood anatomy; 6) monographic studies of the wood anatomy and reproductive morphology of plant families that remain key to understanding the evolution and phylogeny of the angiosperms. His pioneering publications starting about a century ago in all these fields are still highly relevant. We will briefly review these and highlight some recent advances in wood anatomy and tree biology that are firmly rooted in Bailey's classical studies

1 - Emeritus Professor Of Systematic Botany, PO Box 9514, Leiden, 2300 RA, Netherlands
2 - DEPT OF WOOD & PAPER SCIENCE, 710 Dixie Trail, Raleigh, NC, 27607, United States

Keywords:
Wood anatomy
xylem.

Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: C06, 100 years of Baileyan Trends - Wood Evolution, Function and Future
Location: 106/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Tuesday, July 24th, 2018
Time: 8:30 AM
Number: C06002
Abstract ID:500
Candidate for Awards:None