How Does Cambium Produce New Wood?
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How does cambium produce new wood? Cambium produces new wood by dividing, and its daughter cells go on to form xylem, the tissue that becomes wood. One research review describes the cambium as “a cylindrical secondary meristem,” and a second review calls it “a lateral meristem responsible for secondary growth and stem expansion at the radial axis.” This article explains the steps that turn cambium divisions into wood and the signals that control those steps. Both points are tied to two research reviews checked for this article.
Quick answer
- Wood is produced by cambium divisions. One review states that “Secondary growth refers to the production of wood by the vascular cambium.”
- Cambium divides in both directions. The review says that “Vascular cambium divides to produce daughter cells, with secondary xylem formed toward the center and secondary phloem on the outside of the plant.”
- The daughter cells then become wood cells in several steps. The review lists “cell expansion, secondary cell wall deposition, pit formation, and programmed cell death” after division.
- Hormones, transcription factors and peptide signals help control the process. One review states that “the differentiation of xylem cells require the modulation of multiple signals, including plant hormones, transcription factors, and signaling peptides.”
How the cambium forms
One review explains that “The secondary xylem is derived from the vascular cambium, which is a cylindrical secondary meristem.” The same review says that “The growth and development of woody plants can be largely divided into primary and secondary phases.” Cambium activity belongs to the secondary phase, which is the phase that produces wood.
The review describes how the cambium first forms. It says that “In the apical region of this meristem tissue, the procambium differentiates into primary phloem and primary xylem that comprise the primary vascular bundle.” It then adds that “As the procambium expands to the interfascicular region, it develops into a ring to form vascular cambium.” The cambium therefore forms from procambium, which is the tissue that precedes it.
The second review describes the same ring in a developing stem. It states that “Developing stems form cambial cells at vascular and interfascicular regions.” This places cambial cells in two locations, the vascular bundles and the spaces between them.
How a cambium division becomes wood
Wood formation starts with a division in the cambium. The first review says that “Wood formation is initiated through cell divisions within the cylindrical vascular cambium layer, formed from the procambium.” The divisions come first, and the cells that result are not yet wood.
The review then describes the sequence after division. It states that “Wood formation is achieved through a series of cascading processes that include: xylem mother cell specification by vascular cambium cell division, the differentiation of these cells into xylem cells followed by cell expansion, secondary cell wall deposition, pit formation, and programmed cell death.” The cells change in size, build a secondary wall, form pits, and then die.
The review uses the same order when it describes the xylem. It states that “The xylem is formed through the vascular cambium cell division and xylem cell differentiation, cell expansion, secondary cell wall formation and pit formation, and programmed cell death.” The two statements match, and both describe xylem as the product of cambium division followed by differentiation.
The direction of the new cells is also stated. The review says “secondary xylem formed toward the center and secondary phloem on the outside of the plant.” The cambium therefore adds xylem toward the center of the stem and phloem toward the outside.
What controls the cambium
The first review says that “Studies of Arabidopsis and poplar as model plants using various emerging research tools show that the formation and proliferation of the vascular cambium and the differentiation of xylem cells require the modulation of multiple signals, including plant hormones, transcription factors, and signaling peptides.” Arabidopsis and poplar are the model plants used in those studies.
The second review describes the cambium as a source of stem cells. It states that “The vascular cambium harbors stem cells that proliferate, and progenies differentiate into xylem and phloem cells.” This sentence shows the two steps in one line: the stem cells proliferate, and their progeny differentiate into xylem and phloem.
The second review also describes a peptide signal. It says that “The TDIF signal and its downstream components regulate cambial cell proliferation, xylem cell differentiation, and vascular patterning.” This statement links the same signal to both the number of cambium cells and the differentiation of xylem cells.
The second review names a receptor as well. It states that “PXY is a member of the receptor-like kinases (RLKs) with 21 leucine-rich repeats (LRRs) and is explicitly expressed on the xylem side of the vascular cambium.” The receptor is therefore located on the xylem side of the cambium.
The second review also describes the role of the environment. It says that “Vascular development and cambial activity is regulated by endogenous programs and exogenous signals.” The review therefore treats cambium activity as influenced by both internal programs and external signals.
Cambial activity as an indicator
The second review uses a practical measure of cambium activity. It states that “Cambial stem cells and undifferentiated xylem and phloem progenitors form a cambial region, which is often used as an indicator of cambial activity.”
The second review describes its own scope in one sentence. It states that “This paper mainly focuses on advances in regulating plant vascular cambial activity and secondary growth.” The review is therefore about the regulation of cambium activity rather than about any single tree.
Related reading covers the structures that wood formation leaves behind. A related explainer on how heartwood forms in trees is listed for the inner wood of a trunk. A related explainer on how tree growth rings form is listed for the yearly pattern in wood.
How we chose these sources
The first source is a review of the genetic and molecular mechanisms that regulate wood formation in plants. The second is a review of endogenous and environmental signals in vascular development and secondary growth. Both are hosted on PubMed Central. Both pages returned HTTP 200 with article text on 2026-10-28. Each factual sentence in this article is tied to a verbatim quote from one of these pages.
The two reviews were chosen because one covers the steps of xylem formation and the other covers the signals that control cambium activity. Together they describe the process from the cell level to the signal level.
What we could not verify
The two reviews describe mechanisms, but they do not give growth rates for a particular tree or a yearly volume of wood. They do not describe how much wood a garden tree produces in a given season. This article does not supply those figures.
What the sources do not say
The sources do not state how fast the cambium produces wood in a specific species, and they do not quantify the effect of weather or site on that rate. They do not explain heartwood formation, which is a separate topic. The steps described above are limited to the division and differentiation sequence that both reviews discuss.
Frequently asked questions
Is cambium the same as wood?
No. The first review describes the cambium as “a cylindrical secondary meristem” and says that the secondary xylem is derived from it. The cambium divides, and the xylem cells that result form the wood.
Which direction does new wood grow from the cambium?
The review says “secondary xylem formed toward the center and secondary phloem on the outside of the plant.” Xylem is therefore added toward the center of the stem.
Which signals control cambium activity?
The first review lists “plant hormones, transcription factors, and signaling peptides.” The second review adds that vascular development and cambial activity “is regulated by endogenous programs and exogenous signals.”
What happens to a new xylem cell after it forms?
The first review lists the steps as “cell expansion, secondary cell wall deposition, pit formation, and programmed cell death.” The cell expands, builds a secondary wall, forms pits, and dies in that order.
Does the cambium produce only wood?
No. The second review says that “The vascular cambium harbors stem cells that proliferate, and progenies differentiate into xylem and phloem cells.” The cambium therefore produces phloem as well as xylem.
Sources
- Research review, “Current Understanding of the Genetics and Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Wood Formation in Plants,” PubMed Central. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9319765/ (HTTP 200, checked 2026-10-28)
- Research review, “Endogenous and environmental signals in regulating vascular development and secondary growth,” PubMed Central. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11018896/ (HTTP 200, checked 2026-10-28)
