A Kontron MOP system (electromagnetic electronic image analyser with built-in microprocessor system) was used for the quantitative microscopic analysis of trunks from sycamore maple and elm. It was established that the radial sizes of the derivative cells (mainly wood fibres) from each single cambium mother cell occur in a wave pattern over time which is not identical with the growth ring changes. Trachea appear regularly in the troughs in the sycamore maple and in the peaks in the elm. The author traces the well-known diverse nature of cambial production back to the most simple and antagonistic basic characteristics of cambial activity. This enables the construction of an encompassing variation system using code words for the distinct characterization of all possible wood structures and classification according to dynamic-cambial combinations. Furthermore, the existence of function-determining factors which move along the cambium may be regarded as proven on the basis of the analysis. The appearance can be explained according to the so-called "rhythmic profactor theory," which enables the construction of all possible wood structures through the appropriate combination of only a few rhythmic (harmonic) oscillation components in model systems.