Variation in tracheid length in blue pine (Pinus wallichiana A.B. Jackson). Pt. 3: multivariate analyses of the effects of age and distance from the pith on first-formed early wood tracheid length

Abstract

In the present study multivariate analyses of the effects of age and distance from the pith on the first-formed earlywood tracheid length have been carried out at breast-hieght in ten trees of blue pine. The analyses show that the first-formed earlywood tracheid length is affected by both age and distance from the pith up to 40 years i.e. in Zone II. In Zone I(rings I-10), the affect of the age appears to be more important than that of the distance from the pith; and in Zone II(rings II-40), the influence of distance from the pith on tracheid length is better than that of the age. In the Zone III(i.e. after rings from the pith). tracheid length is more or less constant and is not affected by either the age or the distance from the pith.