vascular cambium

A *lateral meristem , found in those vascular plants exhibiting secondary growth, that gives rise to *secondary xylem and *secondary phloem mostly by *periclinal cell divisions. The vascular cambium contains *fusiform initials , which give rise to the axial system, and *ray initials , which give rise to the radial (ray) system of the secondary tissues. Compare phellogen. See also cambium , fascicular cambium , interfascicular cambium.