Abstract:

The mucilage cells and oil cells of Cinnamomum camphora play an important role in its trees growth and synthesis of its camphor and camphor oils. The development and distribution of mucilage cells and oil cells in the shoots and lignified juvenile stems were studied with the method of paraffin section in this paper. The research methods on cytology, the relations between mucilage cells and oil cells in the developing process and the identification in anatomical structure were discussed on this basis. The results showed that the development of oil cells and mucilage cells were earlier than the surrounding cells and the earliest primitive cell of oil cells can be seen in the second leaf primordium. With the cells differentiation, the numbers of oil cells increased gradually. The cortex, phloem, and pith areas were the main places for oil cells at first and the cells had large morphology. In the late stage, the cells can be seen in the xylem rays with the differentiation of vascular tissue, but they were smaller. The developing process of oil cells could be segmented into four phases: differentiation of primitive cells, cells acuolization, cell maturation, disintegration of protoplasm. The mucilage cell in the early stage of vacuolization was similar to the oil cell, but was slightly different in the late maturition process. The‘Cup-shape’structure could be seen in the development of the two cells, what's more, they could be mutually transformed at a certain periods, which reflecting the necessary adaptability on the growth of trees and composition of chemical substances.

Key words: Cinnamomum camphora, oil cell, mucilage cell, development, wood anatomy