Parenchyma fractions drive the storage capacity of nonstructural carbohydrates across a broad range of tree species.

In trees, NSCs are stored mostly in the RP fraction, which has a larger surface area in warmer climates. Additionally, NSCs were only weakly linked to wood density and tree height. Our analysis of evolutionary relationships demonstrated that RAP fractions and NSC content were always closely related across all 68 tree species, suggesting that RAP can act as a reliable proxy for potential NSC storage capacity in tree stems.