What part of a tree is alive?
Just 1% of a tree is actually alive and composed of “living” cells. Nearly all of every tree you see is composed of non-living tissue and very little of a tree’s volume is “living” tissue. The major living or growing portion of a tree is a thin film or skin of cells just under the bark (called the cambium). Other living cells are in root tips, the apical meristem, leaves and buds. The overwhelming portion of all trees is made up of non-living tissue created by a cambial-hardened wood cells on the inner cambial layer. Sandwiched between the outer cambial layer and the bark is the ongoing process of creating sieve tubes which transport food from leaves to roots.
