Botany strengthen the secondary cell walls of xylem tracheids and vessels to keep them from collapsing when a plant sucks water through them under water stress. Lignin is also used in other cell types like sclerenchyma fibres that provide structural support for a plant and is a major constituent of wood. Sporopollenin is a chemically resistant polymer found in the outer cell walls of spores and pollen of land plants responsible for the survival of early land plant spores and the pollen of seed plants in the fossil record. It is widely regarded as a marker for the start of land
Medullary ray (botany) also known as vascular rays or pith rays. In this context, the term refers to radial sheets or ribbons extending vertically through the tree across and perpendicular to the growth rings. Also called pith rays or wood rays, these formations of primarily parenchyma cells allow the radial transport of sap and are essential in the process of tylosis. In quartersawn material, where the wood is cut into boards with the growth rings roughly perpendicular to the face of the board, the medullary rays often produce beautiful figure such as silver grain, medullary spots, pith flecks, etc. Medullary ray (botany) Medullary