Supporting information
Appendix S1: List of pit morphological dimensions for 13 conifer species with punctured tori. Average and maximum pore sizes per species were
based on SEM (n ≥ 25) and TEM (n ≥ 5) measurements. Dm, Dt, and Da were measured on a minimum of 15 aspirated pit membranes in order to
obtain these parameters from the same pit. The TEM characters Tt and Dp were averaged for a minimum of 10 measurements. Av = average; Max =
maximum; Dm = pit membrane diameter; Dt = torus diameter; Da = aperture diameter; Tt = torus thickness; Dp = depth of the pit chamber; / = no
pores were detected with TEM; X = species not studied with TEM.
Species
Pore size (nm) ± SE
Dm (µm) ± SE
Dt (µm) ± SE
Da (µm) ± SE
Tt (nm) ± SE
Dp (µm) ± SE
Av - SEM
Av - TEM
Max - SEM
Abies balsamea
45 ±3
59 ±7
141
12.37±0.0.18
7.20±0.16
4.15±0.09
668±30
3.54±0.05
Cephalotaxus harringtonii
36 ±2
/
73
9.31±0.42
4.48±0.10
2.97±0.05
465±27
2.77±0.09
Larix decidua
39 ±2
79 ±8
70
13.05±0.25
7.51±0.14
4.16±0.17
405±8
2.81±0.07
Picea glauca
54 ±4
/
144
10.94±0.15
5.75±0.17
2.84±0.05
612±20
3.00±0.05
Picea mariana
43 ±1
72 ±7
86
11.82±0.15
6.80±0.11
3.49±0.07
488±24
2.94±0.08
Pinus hartwegii
48 ±2
67 ±2
75
9.32±0.12
5.76±0.14
2.91±0.06
411±11
2.43±0.05
Pinus nigra
40 ±3
49 ±9
91
13.65±0.23
7.85±0.15
4.44±0.18
373±11
2.23±0.06
Pinus pinaster
63 ±3
63 ±2
99
10.47±0.17
6.34±0.10
3.20±0.07
451±8
3.02±0.04
Pinus radiata
59 ±1
/
87
14.20±0.35
7.52±0.15
4.34±0.11
348±16
4.55±0.31
Pinus wallichiana
62 ±3
X
127
13.39±0.38
7.35±0.24
4.39±0.15
X
X
Sequoia sempervirens
57±3
/
140
11.08±0.25
5.99±0.16
3.75±0.12
758±39
2.31±0.05
Sequoiadendron giganteum
62± 3
X
127
11.90±0.38
6.07±0.31
3.20±0.18
X
X
Xanthocyparis nootkatensis
55 ±4
/
102
8.65±0.21
4.75±0.10
3.04±0.10
559±44
2.39±0.35
Appendix S2: Box plot illustrating a significant difference (P<0.0001) in S50 between species
with punctured tori (n = 13) and non-punctured tori (n = 20). This difference remained
significant (P = 0.024) when controlling for taxonomy based on a mixed model (see Material
and Methods for details).
Appendix S3: Scaling of pit aperture diameter (Da) vs. pit membrane diameter (Dm, grey
dots), and Da vs torus diameter (Dt, black dots) as based on average values (±SD) for 13
species with punctured tori. All linear regressions were highly significant. These relationships
remain significant (P <0.0001) when controlling for taxonomy.