Yes, cork is a secondary tissue.
Understanding Secondary Tissues
Plants grow in two main ways:
- Primary growth: This type of growth increases the length of the plant, and it involves primary tissues.
- Secondary growth: This type of growth increases the girth or width of the plant, and it involves secondary tissues.
Cork and the Cork Cambium
The reference text states that "the cork cambium is initially formed solely from the pericycle." The cork cambium is a secondary meristem. Meristems are plant tissues that produce new cells. Secondary meristems produce secondary tissues. Specifically, the reference indicates that the cork cambium divides to form "a different secondary tissue" on its outside. This secondary tissue is cork.
Therefore, because cork is produced by a secondary meristem (the cork cambium), it is classified as a secondary tissue.
