Timber Bamboo Longitudinal Section

This is an image from a stained standard section of Timber bamboo. It has been stained with safranin and astra blue. Safranin stains the cellulose red and astra blue stains the lignin blue. This shows more of the structure of the parenchyma cells. The parenchyma cells are connected to all the cells around them by numerous pores that appear as dark spots or light spots, depending on if they are above or below the plane of focus. They are also visible as dark lines running through the cell walls to the adjoining cell. The upper part of the photograph shows the transition to the long fiber structure.