Pith

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For the helmet used in tropical and subtropical climates, see pith helmet. For the slaughtering
technique, see pithing.

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Elder shoot cut longitudinally to show the broad, solid pith (rough-textured, white) inside the wood (smooth,
yellow-tinged). Scale in mm.

Walnut shoot cut longitudinally to show the chambered pith found in this genus. Scale in mm.

The tiny centre dark spot (about 1 mm diameter) in this yew wood is the pith

Pith, or medulla, is a tissue in the stems of vascular plants. Pith is composed of soft,
spongy parenchyma cells, which store and transport nutrients throughout the plant. In eudicots, pith
is located in the center of the stem. In monocots, it extends also into flowering stems and roots. The
pith is encircled by a ring of xylem; the xylem, in turn, is encircled by a ring of phloem.
While new pith growth is usually white or pale in color, as the tissue ages it commonly darkens to a
deeper brown color. In trees pith is generally present in young growth, but in the trunk and older
branches the pith often gets replaced - in great part - by xylem. In some plants, the pith in the middle
of the stem may dry out and disintegrate, resulting in a hollow stem. A few plants, such as walnuts,
have distinctive chambered pith with numerous short cavities (See image at middle right). The cells
in the peripheral parts of the pith may, in some plants, develop to be different from cells in the rest of
the pith. This layer of cells is then called the perimedullary region of the pithamus. An example of
this can be observed in Hedera helix, a species of ivy.
The term pith is also used to refer to the pale, spongy inner layer of the rind - more properly
called mesocarp or albedo - of citrus fruits (such as oranges) and other hesperidia. The word comes
from the Old English word pia, meaning substance, akin to Middle Dutch pitt, meaning the pit of a
fruit.[1]
The pith of the sola or other similar plants is used to make the pith helmet.[2]
The pith of the sago palm, although highly toxic to animals in its raw form, is an important human
food source in Melanesia and Micronesia by virtue of its starch content and its availability. There is
an easy, primitive process of starch extraction from sago pith that leaches away a sufficient amount
of the toxins and thus only the starch component is consumed. The form of the starch after
processing is similar to tapioca.