Localization of the porous partition responsible for pressurized gas transport in Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.

The pressurized gas transport which improves the oxygen supply of the roots of the wetland tree black alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.), is based on the existence of a thermo-osmotically active porous tissue partition in the lower part of the trunk with pore diameters in the range of, or smaller than, the mean free path length of the gas molecules (e.g., 70 nm for O(2) at 20 degrees C and 100 kPa). Anatomical studies have shown that only the cambial layer or the phellogen of the lenticels have intercellular spaces small enough to be responsible for thermo-osmotic activity. The final localization of the thermo-osmotically active partition and the determination of the pore sizes were done by diffusion and effusion experiments with basal trunk pieces of 3- to 4-year-old trees. The mean pore sizes of the intercellular system were not smaller than 100 nm in diameter in the cambial layer separating the bark from the wood, but 14 +/- 7 nm in diameter in the phellogen underlying the lenticels. Because of these small pores, the phellogen of the lenticels is the significant thermo-osmotically active partition for the transport of air to the root system in black alder.