Vessel (Pore)
Definition
A series of cells joined end to end with perforation plates dissolved away, forming a continuous water-conducting tube. Characteristic of hardwoods (angiosperms). The cross-sectional opening of a vessel is the pore visible in a transverse section.
- Structure
- Cross-sectional opening of a vessel, cells joined end to end
- Found in
- Hardwoods (angiosperms) only
- ID pattern types
- Ring-porous versus diffuse-porous arrangement
- Viewed in
- Transverse (cross) section under magnification
Common questions
What is the difference between ring-porous and diffuse-porous wood?+
Ring-porous wood concentrates large pores in the early growth-ring wood, forming a visible ring, while diffuse-porous wood has pores of similar size scattered evenly through the growth ring, and the pattern is a key identification character.
Can pore pattern alone identify a wood species?+
Rarely to the species level by itself; examiners usually combine pore arrangement with other anatomical features such as ray structure and parenchyma pattern to narrow identification further.
Related terms
- Diffuse-Porous
- A vessel arrangement in which pores of broadly similar size are distributed throughout the growth ring without a distinct early-wood band of...
- Ray
- A ribbon of cells running radially (outward from the centre) through wood, carrying materials horizontally and storing starch. Ray width (in cell...
- Resin Canal
- An intercellular space lined with secretory epithelial cells that produce resin. Present in many conifers and a small number of hardwoods. In...
- Ring-Porous
- A vessel arrangement in which the early-wood (spring) ring contains conspicuously large vessels and the late-wood contains small ones, creating a sharp...
- Tracheid
- The primary water-conducting and mechanical cell of softwoods (conifers). Elongated, pointed at both ends, and lacking a perforation plate: water passes through...