Wood and bark moisture contents of small-diameter hardwoods growing on southern pine sites

Abstract

Ten 6-inch trees from throughout the south were sampled from each of 22 species, of which 11 were oaks. Ranking of species remained constant regardless of whether moisture contents were determined for the entire tree, the stem with bark, branches with bark, or stem- and branchwood without bark. For ashes and hickory, the range among these various components was 46 to 57 percent; for oaks, red maple, hackberry, and elms 55 to 78 percent; for black tupelo 85 to 90 percent; for sweetbay all moisture contents were close to 101 percent; and in yellow-poplar and sweetgum the range was 105 to 120 percent. Stem bark and branch bark moisture contents ranged from 44 percent and 56 percent, respectively, in blackjack oak, to 126 and 134 percent in yellow-poplar. Stemwood moisture content was higher than that of branchwood in 15 species; moisture content of stem bark was lower than that of branch bark in 19 species. In the stem, bark moisture content was higher than that of wood in 6 species and lower in 14 species. In the top, moisture content of bark was greater than that of wood in 16 species; the other 6 species had no significant difference.

Citation

Manwiller, Floyd G. 1975. Wood and bark moisture contents of small-diameter hardwoods growing on southern pine sites. Wood Science, Vol. 8(1): 384-388