Wood properties and features

Forest Utilization I
 Significance of knowing wood
properties & features
• Identification of timber
• Right species for right end use
– Plywood
– Cellulose & paper
– Lignin products
• Tree breeding and improvement programmes
• Plant taxonomy
• Applied Science &Technology
• Palaeobotany
 Wood
• Wood:
– Cambial activity
– Cambial meristem produces cells to inside (wood)
and outside (bark)
• Hardwood: Angiosperms
• Softwood: Conifers
GENERAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD

COLOUR
FLOURESCENCE
LUSTRE
ODOUR
WEIGHT
HARDNESS
GRAIN
TEXTURE
FIGURE
• Colour and patterns of colour
– Uniform
– Variegated
– Streaked
• Colour differentiation between sapwood and
heartwood
– Sharp & well-defined (Albizia lebbeck, Shisham)
– Gradual, less defined (Sal, haldu)
– No distinction (Picea smithiana, Gmelina arborea,
Kanju)
• Wood extractives (fluorescent in Bijasal)
• Pale white – pink to jet
black

Diospyros - Blackish
 Pale-brown (Populus deltoides)

Yellowish (Adina cordifolia – haldu)

• Reddish: Toona ciliata
• Grey : Terminalia bialata
• Marble wood:
 Hardness
• Resistance offered by wood against
penetration of another object into it.
Category Features Example
Hard to very hard Cut with knife with great Mesua ferrea,
difficulty Ebony

Moderately Hard Not penetrated by finger Kokko

nail, but easily cut by knife
Soft to very soft Penetrated by finger nail Bombax ceiba
(semul)
 ODOUR
• Not very reliable as odour fades away
• Reliable in species like
– Teak (old leather)
– Deodar (pungent aroma)
– Sandal wood
 LUSTRE
• Ability of wood to reflect light when viewed in
different angles
– Conspicuous when freshly cut or split
– Eg: Morus alba, Gmelina arborea
– Silver lustre due to conspicuous rays in Silver Oak
(Grewellia robusta) and Oaks
 WEIGHT
• Depends on moisture content of wood
Category Wt kg/cum at 12% Examples
moisture

Very light <300 Ochroma pyramidale, Cryptomeria

japonica
Light 301 – 450 Alnus spp., Ailanthus grandis

Moderately heavy 451 – 600 Walnut

Heavy 601 – 800 Teak

Very Heavy 801 – 950 Acacia nilotica (babul), Anogeissus latifolia

Extremely Heavy > 951 Oak

 TEXTURE
• The feeling on touching wood surface –
coarse, smooth.
• Due to size, proportion and distribution
pattern of cells
– Vessels / Pores in hardwoods
– Trachied diameter in softwoods
• Texture can be :
– Even
– Uneven (chir pine, teak, toon, mulberry)
• Even Texture
– Fine: Haldu
– Medium-Coarse: Holoptelia integrifolia
– Coarse: Albizia lebbeck, Semul
 GRAIN
• General alignment or direction of cells in
relation to the axis of tree
– Straight (Teak),
– Spiral (Red sanders)
– Interlocked (sal)
– Wavy
 Gross features of wood
1. Bark: Varies in thickness, colour, appearances
– Crocodile bark in Terminalia tomentosa
– Lenticels on Meliaceae
– Smooth in ficus
– Exfoliating in Lagerstroemia lanceolata
 2. Heartwood & Sapwood
– Outer lighter coloured portion sapwood
– Inner dark coloured portion is heartwood
– Colour distinction not always present (Abies pindrow, Mangifera
indica)
• Sal might show dark reddish coloured sapwood also!
• Heartwood is dead cells that give rigidity
– Contains extractives
– Durability
• Sapwood is composed of living cells and takes active part in
conduction of sap.
– Rich in starch and food materials – vulnerable to insects and
pathogens
– Not durable
 3. Rings
• Annual Rings: consist of early
wood (spring wood) and
latewood (summer wood)
– Temperate conditions
• Seasonal Growth rings: In
tropics, may correspond to
rainy season
• Every annual ring has
earlywood and latewood
 Components of growth rings
Earlywood Latewood
Wood towards inside of a growth ring Wood towards outside
Formed in the early part of the season / Formed in later part of season /
year year
Consists of xylem tissues with wide vessels Consists of xylem tissues with
narrow vessels
Produced more in amount Produced less in amunt
Less strong Stronger due to larger volume of
wall materials
 Pith
• Soft core found at the centre of log
• Parenchyma cells
• No significant function
– Chambered pith in Walnut
– Squarish with concave sides in Teak
 Grain and texture
• Grain: General alignment or direction of cells
in relation to the axis of tree
– Straight, cross, spiral, interlocked (sal), wavy,
irregular
• Texture: Proportion and distribution of various
wood elements
– Coarse (Mango, Albizia lebbeck), fine (Haldu),
even, unneven
 DIAGONAL GRAIN SPIRAL GRAIN STRAIGHT GRAIN
When a straight-grained log is not When trees grow twisted, spiral- The board's fibers run approximately
sawn along its vertical axis, diagonal grained logs and subsequent boards parallel with the vertical axis of the
grain is the result. are produced. Fibers follow a spiral log from which it originated.
course with a twist that is either left-
or right-handed.

WAVY GRAIN IRREGULAR GRAIN INTERLOCKED GRAIN

This type of grain results when the Boards of this type have fibers at Boards with this grain result from
direction of wood fibers has directions that are varying and trees whose fibers lined up in
constantly changed. irregular from the log's vertical axis opposite directions in each growth
(for example: fibers around knots). year.
 MINUTE STRUCTURE OF WOOD
1. VESSELS (PORES)
2. PARENCHYMA
3. RAYS
4. FIBRES
5. RIPPLE MARKS
6. RESIN CANALS (INTERCELLULARCANALS /
GUM DUCTS)
7. INCLUDED PHLOEM
 1. VESSELS (PORES)
• Vertical series of tubular cells with open ends
placed one above the other.
• Conduct water and minerals from roots to
crown
• When wood is cut on transverse section
appear as round or oval holes or PORES for
naked eye or through hand lens.
• Present in all hardwoods (porous), absent in
conifers (non-porous)
 Porous Non Porous
(Hardwood) (Softwood)
Pore characteristics
What to look for in pores?
i. Pore size
Category Description Example
Very large Clearly visible to Bombax ceiba
naked eye, distinct
borders
Moderately large Just visible to eye, Teak, Dalbergia
borders not so sissoo
distinct, better
seen with hand
lens
Small to very small Not visible to Adina cordifolia
naked eye
 ii. Number of pores per unit area
(pore density)

Category Descripion Example

Scanty <20 / 4 [Link] Bombax ceiba

Moderately 20-80 / 4 [Link] Shorea robusta

numerous

Very numerous >80 / 4 [Link] Adina cordifolia

Very Numerous Moderately Numerous Scanty
 iii. Pore arrangement

Ring Porous Diffuse Porous

• Ring Porous:
– Pores of the early wood are distinctly larger than
pores of latewood
– Appear as a ring
– Mulberry, teak, Lagerstroemia lanceolata, Toona
ciliata
• Diffuse Porous
– No differentiation between pores of early wood
and latewood
– Pores distributed more or less uniformly
throughout the growth ring
Ring Porous Diffuse Porous
 Other arrangements
• Exclusively solitary
– Occur singly, without coming into contact with other pores
near them e.g gurjan/ hollong (Dipterocarpus spp.)

• Long radial chains or multiples

– Pores form long, radial rows of 3-6 or more. When the
pores within a row are in contact with or just touch each
other, they form a `pore chain’.
– Walls of contact between the pores may become pressed
or flattened, so as to give the impression of a single pore
having subdivision e.g pali (Palaquim ellipticum).
Solitary Multiples
• Tangential clusters
– Most of the pores
form clusters or
groups in tangential
direction
– Eg. Grewellia robusta
• Flames
– Radial – oblique, triangular patches
– Rhamnus, Osmanthus, oaks
 VESSEL INCLUSIONS
• Pores in the heartwood may be filled with certain
inclusions or materials
– Coloured deposits: Mostly gums. Vary in colour like
yellow (teak), red (Toon), black, brown (Bijasal).
– White or chalky deposits: Organic or mineral
substances (Holoptelia integrifolia)
– Tyloses: formed by ingrowths of adjoining
parenchyma cells into the pore cavity when the
vessels cease to be functional. They form foam like
mass (Shorea robusta)
 2. PARENCHYMA
• Thin-walled, rectangular brick-like cells
• Run vertically along axis
• Related to storage function
• Pattern of distribution very useful in timber
identification under lens
Types of parenchyma
based on distribution pattern
TYPES 2A. APOTRACHEAL 2B. PARATRACHEAL
Description Distribution of parenchyma Parenchyma cells are
independent of pores / associated with pores /
vessels vessels
Sub-categories i. DIFFUSE / SCATTERED i. VASICENTRIC
ii. DIFFUSE IN AGGREGATES ii. ALIFORM
OR FINE LINES
iii. BANDED iii. ALIFORM CONFLUENT
iv. MARGINAL BANDS
DELIMITING GROWTH
RINGS
 2A. APOTRACHEAL PARENCHYMA
i. DIFFUSE/SCATTERED
APOTRACHEAL PARENCHYMA:
Occur as isolated cells or very
short aggregates.
▪ Not visible under hand – lens
▪ No specific pattern formation
▪ Adina cordifolia (haldu), Populus
alba

Populus alba
ii. DIFFUSE IN AGGREGATES OR
FINE LINES APOTRACHEAL
PARENCHYMA: Several
apotracheal parenchyma
cells are joined or aggregated
together, forming thin but
visible tangential lines
▪ Tangential lines may be either
broken or fairly continuous
▪ Often form a “net” like
appearance with the rays –
reticulate
▪ Palaquium ellipticum (pali),
Bombax ceiba (semul)

Reticulate
iii. BANDED APOTRACHEAL PARENCHYMA:
▪ Conspicuous tangential bands of
parenchyma at regular intervals
▪ Straight or wavy
▪ Many "bands" within a given growth ring
▪ Fig, Pterygota alata
iv. MARGINAL APOTRACHEAL
PARENCHYMA:
▪ fine continuous line or a narrow band, which
may be formed either at the beginning or
end of the growth season. Banded parenchyma in Carya sp.
▪ Initial or terminal bands demarcate or
delimit the growth rings, e.g. champ
(Michelia spp.), laurel (Terminalia
tomentosa).

Marginal in Swietenia macrophylla

Banded in Ficus racemosa (Fig) Banded in Michelia champaca
2B. PARATRACHEAL PARENCHYMA
i. VASICENTRIC:
Parenchyma cells form a
complete circle around /
touching the pores
forming a sheath around
pores
Eg: Acacia nilotica

Vasicentric parenchyma in Acacia nilotica

ii. ALIFORM:
▪ Parenchyma form ‘wing-like”
sheath around pores
▪ Look like eyelets
▪ Eg: Albizia lebbeck (kokko),
Mango
iii. ALIFORM CONFLUENT:
▪ the parenchyma cells connect Aliform in Albizia lebbeck (koko)
two more pores that are
themselves surrounded by
parenchyma cells
▪ wing-like extensions of
adjacent pores become
confluent or connected
together laterally
▪ Eg: Ougeinia oogeinensis
Aliform confluent
 3. RAYS
• Groups of parenchyma cells running in a radial
direction from the pith to the bark
• Responsible for radial conduction and storage.
• Light, perpendicular to growth rings on
transverse section
• Appear as spindle shaped structures on
tangential surface
Rays in Red Oak
 Categories of Ray distribution
• Broad to very broad – Rays prominent & visible to naked eye
(Bombax ceiba)
• Moderately broad- Rays mostly clearly visible to the eye but
very prominent through hand-lens, e.g. Teak, Sal.
• Fine to very fine- Rays not visible or indistinct to the eye and
visible only under the lens, e.g. Pterocarpus marsupium
• Broad and fine – A few widely spaced rays prominent to the
eye, interspersed with numerous closely-spaced, fine rays
visible only under the lens, e.g. oak.
• Numerous, closely spaced- When the rays are 10 or more per
mm, e.g. Pterocarpus marsupium, Ebony, L. lanceolata
• Few, widely spaced: When the rays are less than 5 per mm,
(papita, Bombax)
 4. FIBRES
❑ Elongated, vertically-aligned, thick-walled elements
with pointed tapering ends
❑ Makes up the bulk of the wood by weight, in most
hardwoods.
❑ Main function is to give mechanical support to the
tree.
❑ All the other elements are arranged in the fibre matrix.
❑ Indistinct under the lens and are therefore not of
much help in field identification,
Reminder – Planes of wood sample
 5. RIPPLE MARKS
• The rays tend to be aligned in horizontal or
diagonal tiers pattern, also referred to as storied
rays or ripple marks.
• Seen on tangential plane
• Diospyros sp., Sissoo

Diospyros sp. Dalbergia sissoo.

 6. INTER-CELLULAR CANALS
• Long, tubular holes / cavities
• Do not have their own wall
• Vertical or radial in direction
• Also called gum ducts, resin
canal
• Eg: Dipterocarpus indicus,
Shorea robusta
 7. INCLUDED PHLOEM
• Phloem tissues gets embedded in the wood
ocurring as pockets or islands.
• Eg: Agarwood (Aquilaria agallocha)
MONOCOTYLEDONS
STRUCTURE & PROPERTIES OF
CONIFERS / SOFTWOOD
• Simple in structure
• NON-POROUS: Vessels / Pores absent
• Tracheids perform functions of conduction and
structural support
• Parenchyma (soft tissues) absent or
inconspicuous
• One has to depend on annual rings, patterns of
early wood and late wood, intercellular canals
 Identification features
• GROWTH RINGS: Conspicuous, prominent on
all three surfaces
– Exception: Agathis, Aurocaria
Early wood and late wood
patterns
• Abrupt transition:
– Transition from early wood to late
wood within annual ring is abrupt
– Late wood is sharply demarcated
– Eg: Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii),
Cypress (Cupressus torulosa)
• Gradual transition:
– Transition from early wood to late
wood within annual ring is gradual
– Late wood is not well demarcated
– Eg: Pinus wallichiana (blue pine),
Podocarpus neriifolius
 Resin canals
• intercellular canals containing resin
• Vertical or horizontal (Radial) or both
• Most useful in the identification of conifers
Absent: eg like fir (Abies pindrow).
Scattered, large & occur singly eg chir (Pinus roxburghii)
and kail ( Pinus wallichiana).
Scattered, minute & in short tangential groups of two to
three eg spruce (Picea smithiana)
Long tangential (concentric) bands eg deodar (Cedrus
deodara)