What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Pith vs Cambium - What's the difference?

pith | cambium |

As nouns the difference between pith and cambium

is that pith is the soft, spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees while cambium is a layer of cells between the xylem and the phloem that is responsible for the secondary growth of roots and stems.

As a verb pith

is to extract the pith from (a plant stem or tree).

pith

English

Noun

(-)
  • The soft, spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees.
  • The spongy interior substance of a feather.
  • The spinal cord; the marrow.
  • (figuratively) The essential or vital part.
  • The pith of my idea is truth.
  • * Shakespeare
  • enterprises of great pith and moment

    Synonyms

    * (essential or necessary part) core, essence, general tenor, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nitty-gritty, nub, quintessence, soul, spirit, stuff, substance

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To extract the pith from (a plant stem or tree).
  • To kill (especially cattle or laboratory animals) by cutting or piercing the spinal cord.
  • cambium

    English

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (botany) A layer of cells between the xylem and the phloem that is responsible for the secondary growth of roots and stems.
  • * 1863 , Harland Coultas, What may be learned from a tree
  • During winter we perceive no change in the cells of the cambium layer, which are filled with nutritive matter […].
  • (obsolete) One of the humours formerly believed to nourish the bodily organs.
  • *, Bk.I, New York, 2001, p.147:
  • The radical or innate is daily supplied by nourishment, which some call cambium , and make those secondary humours of ros and gluten to maintain it […].