How Much of A Tree is Actually Alive? Learn more in this article featured on
About.com, part of the New York Times Company.
Very little of a tree's volume is actually "living" tissue. Just 1% of a tree is actually alive and composed of living cells. The major living portion of a growing tree is a thin film of cells just under the bark (called the
cambium) and can be only one to several cells thick. 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 hardening into non-living wood cells on the inner cambial layer. Sandwiched between the outer cambial layer and the bark is an ongoing process of creating sieve tubes which transport food from leaves to roots.
So, all wood is formed by the inner cambium and all food-conveying cells are formed by the outer cambium.
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