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This article provides detailed information on the features of different types of woods, including their average specific gravity, heartwood color, pore distribution, ray visibility, and more. Explore the diverse characteristics of sassafras, black cherry, common persimmon, eastern cottonwood, black willow, quaking aspen, American hornbeam, and eastern hophornbeam.
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Avg. SG: 0.45 Heartwood Color: Grey or grayish brown Heartwood Odor:Spicy odor and taste Pore Distribution: Ring-porous Earlywood: 3-8 pores wide; pores medium to large Latewood: Pores solitary and in radial multiples of 2-3, forming fine tangential lines in outer latewood Tyloses:Fairly abundant Rays: Barely visible to eye #48: Sassafras Sassafras albidum
Avg. SG: 0.50 Heartwood Color: Light to dark cinnamon or reddish brown Pore Distribution: Diffuse-porous Pores: Pores through growth ring solitary and in radial or irregular multiples and small clusters Gum Defects: Common Rays: Not visible on tangential surface; conspicuous light ray fleck on radial surfaces; distinct whitish lines across transverse surface (distinct to naked eye) #49: Black Cherry Prunus serotina
Heartwood Color: Core dark, nearly black Sapwood Color: Creamy white, darkening to yellow or light grey Pore Distribution: Semi-ring-porous Pores: Largest pores medium to large, thick walled; appear to be relatively few; solitary or in radial multiples Tyloses: Occasionally present Parenchyma: Fine tangential lines Rays: Fine, visible w/lens Ripple Marks: On tangential surfaces; denotes storied structure #51: Common PersimmonDiospyrosvirginiana
Avg. SG: 0.40 Heartwood Color: Grayish to light grayish brown, sometimes with olive cast Odor: Moist wood with foul odor (not universal) Pore Distribution: Diffuse-porous or semi-diffuse porous Pores: Medium to small, solitary and in radial multiples of 2 to several Rays: Very fine, not easily seen with lens #52: Eastern Cottonwood Populus deltoides
Avg. SG: 0.39 Heartwood Color: Light brown to pale reddish or grayish brown, frequently with dark streaks Pore Distribution: Diffuse-porous to semi-diffuse-porous Pores: Medium to small, usually with apparent size gradation from earlywood to latewood, solitary and in multiples of 2 to several. Pores typically much more visible (larger) than in cottonwood and aspen Rays: Very fine, barely visible w/hand lens #54: Black WillowSalix nigra
Avg. SG: 0.38 Heartwood Color: Creamy white to light grayish brown Pore Distribution: Diffuse-porous Pores: Small to very small, w/gradation from earlywood to latewood, solitary and in multiples of 2 to several Rays: Very fine, not easily seen w/hand lens NOTE: Don’t separate #52 and #53 #53: Quaking Aspen Populus tremuloides
#55: American HornbeamCarpinus caroliniana • Heartwood Color: Pale yellowish or brownish white • Pore Distribution: Diffuse-porous • Pores: Indistinct without a hand lens • Rays: Two types: Narrow and aggregate; wide aggregate rays are fairly abundant • Other: Wood heavy and hard; often has wavy growth ring boundaries
#56: Eastern HophornbeamOstrya virginiana • Heartwood Color: Whitish to light brown tinged with red • Pore Distribution: Diffuse-porous • Pores: Indistinct or barely visible to the eye; often aggregated into flame-shaped groups • Rays: Fine, indistinct, closely spaced (NOTE: no aggregate rays as in #55) • Other: Wood heavy and very hard; growth rings often with “ragged contours”
Acknowledgement • Photomacrographs by Zach Kriess • Supplemental photomacrographs (those with white text showing scientific name) courtesy of the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory