Ring Porous Hardwoods

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Ring Porous Hardwoods
FW1035 Lab Lecture 1

• Ashes
• white ash
• black ash
• Sassafras
• True Hickory

• Red oak
• White oak
• American elm (white elm)
• Red elm (slippery elm)
• Hackberry

Specific Gravities (SG) are from Hoadley,
calculated from oven-dry (OD) weight and volume
at 12 moisture content (MC).
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Oaks

• General Characteristics
• Have two types of rays uniseriate and wide,
  oak-type rays.
• Usually ring-porous (live oak and tanoak are
  semi-ring porous)
• Many types of longitudinal parenchyma
  arrangements including banded and vasicentric
  confluent
• Many commercial oak species, but can be divided
  into white and red oak groups.
• Uses
• Furniture and cabinetry
• Railway ties (red oaks)
• Crates and pallets
• Barrels (white oaks)

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Red oak Quercus rubra (Fagaceae)
Often planted as an ornamental due to its
impressive fall colors.
Widespread throughout the eastern US and Canada.
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Red oak Quercus rubra (Fagaceae)

• ID Characteristics
• SG 0.63
• Round earlywood pores
• Tyloses absent or sparse
• Ray ends typically 3/8 to 5/8 inches high (rarely
  taller than 1 inch)
• Color pink-red brown
• Other common red oaks
• Q. falcata, southern red oak
• Q. velutina, black oak

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White oakQuercus alba (Fagaceae)
Common in the eastern US.
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White oakQuercus alba (Fagaceae)
There are many uses for white oak. The most
important are whiskey barrels, bumper pool
tables, and vampire stakes.
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White oakQuercus alba (Fagaceae)

• ID Characteristics
• SG 0.68
• Latewood pores are thin-walled and indistinct,
  forming dendritic masses
• Tyloses are abundant, except in most recently
  formed sapwood
• Tall ray ends - 0.5 to 1.65 inches - frequently
  taller than 1.5 inches
• Other common white oaks
• Q. macrocarpa, bur oak
• Q. stellata, post oak

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Elms

• General Characteristics
• Ulmiform latewood pores
• Abundant tyloses
• Uses
• Furniture (especially steam-bent parts)
• Crates and pallets

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American elmUlmus americana (Ulmaceae)
Found throughout eastern North America and the
Midwest. A very common street tree before Dutch
Elm Disease.
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American elmUlmus americana (Ulmaceae)

• ID Characteristics
• SG 0.50
• Single row of earlywood pores
• Light brown heartwood
• Rays not distinct on cross-section (4-5 seriate)

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Red elmUlmus rubra (Ulmaceae)
Not considered important for lumber and less
desirable than American Elm. Most abundant in the
Lake States and Midwest.
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Red elm (Slippery Elm)Ulmus rubra (Ulmaceae)

• ID Characteristics
• SG 0.53
• Multiple rows of earlywood pores
• Darkish red-brown heartwood
• Rays relatively indistinct on cross-section with
  naked eye(4-5 seriate)

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HackberryCeltis occidentalis (Ulmaceae)
Trees are often planted for shade. Wood is used
in inexpensive furniture. Prone to bluestain.
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HackberryCeltis occidentalis (Ulmaceae)

• ID Characteristics
• SG 0.53
• Multiple rows of earlywood pores
• Light brown heartwood, often with yellowish cast
• Often colored with blue stain fungi
• Rays are distinct on the cross-section with naked
  eye (typically 5-8, but up to 13-seriate)

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AshesFraxinus spp. (Oleaceae)

• ID Features
• Narrow rays (1-3 seriate)
• Distinct latewood pores (solitary or short
  multiples)
• Tyloses common
• Longitudinal parenchyma
• vasicentric
• aliform to confluent, depending on position in
  growth ring

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White ash Fraxinus americana
Grows naturally from Nova Scotia to eastern
Texas. Becoming less common as the Emerald Ash
Borer spreads throughout the US and Canada.
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White ash Fraxinus americana
Due to white ash being strong and able to resist
shocks, it is widely used for tool handles and
baseball bats.
EAB, which affects all types of ash trees in the
US and Canada, is commonly transported with ash
firewood.
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Ashes

• White ash Fraxinus americana
• Hard and dense (SG0.60)
• Creamy yellow sapwood to light brown heartwood
• Usually wide sapwood band
• Uses
• tool handles
• furniture
• veneer for decorative plywood
• baseball bats and athletic equipment

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Black ash Fraxinus nigra
Slow growing and primarily found in wetlands and
swamps. Wood is commonly used for baskets.
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Ashes

• Black ash Fraxinus nigra
• Lower density and hardness (SG0.49)
• Medium gray-brown
• Often has narrow growth rings - may not be wide
  enough to see confluent longitudinal parenchyma
• Uses
• furniture
• pallets and crates

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SassafrasSassafras albidum (Lauraceae)
When grown in the north, grows to little more
than a shrub. Aromatic tree with little
commercial value, except to the perfume industry.
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SassafrasSassafras albidum (Lauraceae)

• ID Characteristics
• SG 0.45
• Similar to black ash, but faster grown - wider
  growth rings
• Rarely see aliform or confluent longitudinal
  parenchyma
• Distinct root beer odor

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Hickory
Shagbark Hickory
Range of shagbark hickory. Most hickories share
a very similar range.
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Hickory
Some common uses for hickory include smoking meat
products and furniture/cabinetry.
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HickoryCarya spp. (Juglandaceae)

• ID Characteristics
• Hard and dense wood (SG 0.72 for true
  hickories, 0.66 for pecans)
• Intermittent row of large earlywood pores (may
  look semi-ring porous with pecan hickories)
• Distinct banded longitudinal parenchyma
• makes reticulate pattern with rays
• in pecan hickories, extends into earlywood

Shagbark Hickory (A True Hickory)
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Hickory

• Common True Hickory species
• Cary ovata, shagbark hickory
• C. glabra, pignut hickory
• C. laciniosa, shellbark hickory
• C. tomentosa, mockernut hickory
• Pecan Hickories
• C. illinoensis, pecan
• C. aquatica, water hickory
• C. cordiformis, bitternut
• C. myristiciformis, nutmeg hickory
• Uses
• Tool handles
• Furniture and cabinetry
• Curing (smoking) meat products
• Pallets and packaging

Pecan Hickory