Cork cambium is a tissue

Biological tissue

Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. A tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function. These are called tissues because of their identical functioning...

 found in many vascular plants as part of the periderm. The cork cambium is a lateral meristem and is responsible for secondary growth that replaces the epidermis

Epidermis (botany)

The epidermis is a single-layered group of cells that covers plants' leaves, flowers, roots and stems. It forms a boundary between the plant and the external environment. The epidermis serves several functions, it protects against water loss, regulates gas exchange, secretes metabolic compounds,...

 in roots and stems. It is found in woody and many herbaceous dicots, gymnosperm

Gymnosperm

The gymnosperms are a group of seed-bearing plants that includes conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and Gnetales. The term "gymnosperm" comes from the Greek word gymnospermos , meaning "naked seeds", after the unenclosed condition of their seeds...

s and some monocots, which usually lack secondary growth.

Cork cambium is one of the plant's meristem

Meristem

A meristem is the tissue in most plants consisting of undifferentiated cells , found in zones of the plant where growth can take place....

s - the series of tissues consisting of embryonic (incompletely differentiated) cells from which the plant grows. It is one of the many layers of bark

Bark

Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...

, between the cork and primary phloem

Phloem

In vascular plants, phloem is the living tissue that carries organic nutrients , in particular, glucose, a sugar, to all parts of the plant where needed. In trees, the phloem is the innermost layer of the bark, hence the name, derived from the Greek word "bark"...

. The function of cork cambium is to produce the cork, a tough protective material.

Synonyms for cork cambium are bark cambium, pericambium or phellogen. Phellogen is defined as the meristematic cell layer responsible for the development of the periderm. Cells that grow inwards from the phellogen are termed phelloderm, and cells that develops outwards are termed phellem or cork (note similarity with vascular cambium). The periderm thus consists of three different layers:

• phelloderm - inside of cork cambium, composed of living parenchyma cells
• phellogen (cork cambium) - meristem that gives rise to periderm
• phellem (cork) - at maturity, dead, air-filled protective tissue on the outside

Growth and development of cork cambium is very variable between different species, and also highly dependent on age, growth conditions etc. as can be observed from the different surfaces of bark; smooth, fissured, tesselated, scaly, flaking off, etc.

Economic importance

• Commercial cork
  Cork (material)
  Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...
  
   is derived from the bark of the cork oak
  Cork Oak
  Quercus suber, commonly called the Cork Oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa.It grows to up to 20 m,...
  
   (Quercus suber). Cork has many uses including wine bottle stoppers, bulletin boards, coasters, hot pads to protect tables from hot pans, insulation, sealing for lids, flooring, gaskets for engines, fishing bobbers, handles for fishing rods and tennis rackets, etc. It is also a high strength-to-weight/cost ablative material for aerodynamic prototypes in wind tunnels, as well as satellite launch vehicle payload fairings, reentry surfaces, and compression joints in thrust-vectored solid rocket motor nozzles.
• Many types of bark are used as mulch
  Mulch
  In agriculture and gardening, is a protective cover placed over the soil to retain moisture, reduce erosion, provide nutrients, and suppress weed growth and seed germination. Mulching in gardens and landscaping mimics the leaf cover that is found on forest floors....
  
  .

See also

• Bark
  Bark
  Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
  
  
• Meristem
  Meristem
  A meristem is the tissue in most plants consisting of undifferentiated cells , found in zones of the plant where growth can take place....
  
  
• Cork (material)
  Cork (material)
  Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...
  
  
• Vascular cambium
  Vascular cambium
  The vascular cambium is a part of the morphology of plants. It consists of cells that are partly specialized, for the tissues that transport water solutions, but have not reached any of the final forms that occur in their branch of the specialization graph...
  
  
• Sun scald (flora)
  Sun scald (flora)
  Sun scald is the freezing of bark following high temperatures in the winter season, resulting in permanent visible damage to bark. Fruits may also be damaged.-Causes of Sun scald:...
  
  
• Frost crack
  Frost crack
  Frost crack is a form of tree bark damage sometimes found on thin barked trees, visible as vertical fractures on the southerly facing surfaces of tree trunks...