Also called a bole , the trunk of a tree diagram constitute 60 per centum of a tree ’s mass , so it ’s remarkable that this largest part of a tree is mostly idle tissue paper . Only a thin stripe around the outside of a tree tree trunk control living tissue paper , and this living halo typically is less than one - half inch all-embracing in declamatory trees ( thin in smaller specimen ) .
But even the nonliving parts of tree diagram do vital functions , such as protection and support . There are five main character of a automobile trunk , each of which has a specialized role to bet in the overall emergence and wellness of tree diagram .
- The five main component part of a tree trunk are :* *

Outer Bark
motley widely in appearance count on different tree species , the outer bark is the part of a trunk that first converge the eye .
Some Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree have smooth bark , such as American beechwood ( Fagus grandifolia , USDA zones 3 to 9 ) . Many species have deeply textural bark , such as pitch true pine ( Pinus rigida , geographical zone 4 to 7 ) . And some tree diagram are prized for the landscape involvement of their exfoliate bark , such as paper birch ( Betula papyrifera , zones 2 to 7 ) .
Even though this barque is utter tissue , it performs an priceless service to trees by protect them from potential hazards such as adverse weather , insect pests and injury . The outer barque can also protect a tree by hold wet during periods of drouth .
Inner Bark/Phloem
Directly underneath the outer barque is the inner barque , also call the bast . This vital part of a tree trunk is responsible for nutrient conveyance .
As a production of photosynthesis that occurs in the first place in the leave-taking , scratch travel down the bast from the canopy to the roots , where it ’s stored for future nutrient penury , or moves to other parts of a tree for immediate alimentation . The bast also transports amino acids , hormone and vitamins .
Cambium
The cambium bed is made up of keep cells that grow from the interior of a tree outward instead of up and down a tree bole . As this bed grows , it results in new bark on the outside and raw Grant Wood on the interior .
When leaf bud produce auxins , which are plant life endocrine , the phloem carry them to the cambium where they hasten this newfangled growth . As the unexampled growth is fail , its functions weaken until eventually it dies and bring home the bacon only support for the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
Sapwood/Xylem
The sapwood inside a trunk is the largest band inside a tree . It is the word of mouth through which water and dissolved mineral move from the roots upward throughout a tree all the fashion to its tip .
As the sapwood rive piddle from the filth , it also filters out impurities to protect the wellness of a tree diagram . This natural cognitive operation has been study by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) . The scientist made water supply filters from sapwood , which successfully filtered out pathogenic bacteria from contaminated groundwater as well as pat water . Although the sapwood they used was from tree branch , the same process occurs in the sapwood of trunks .
Tip
The sapwood supports a hydraulic mental process that permit even towering trees that are hundreds of feet improbable to stay hydrated .
Heartwood
Of all the part of the tree diagram trunk , the duramen is the elemental support for the tree that ’s locate at the inwardness of the proboscis . Although the duramen is all in xylem tissue paper , inquisitively it will not dilapidate or misplace morphological unity while the sapwood and barque are in place .
It ’s easily identifiable when logs are cut down because it in the main has a darker color than the surround sapwood .