Structure of wood

Regis B. Miller

Treesearch

Structure of wood

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Regis B. Miller

Year:

1999

Type:

General Technical Report

Station:

Forest Products Laboratory

Source:

Wood handbook : wood as an engineering material. Madison, WI : USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, 1999. General technical report FPL ; GTR-113: Pages 2.1-2.4

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Abstract

The fibrous nature of wood strongly influences how it is used. Wood is primarily composed of hollow, elongate, spindle-shaped cells that are arranged parallel to each other along the trunk of a tree. When lumber and other products are cut from the tree, the characteristics of these fibrous cells and their arrangement affect such properties as strength and shrinkage as well as the grain pattern of the wood. This chapter briefly describes some elements of wood structure.

Keywords

Wood properties, structure, grain and figure, wood anatomy, growth rings, wood chemistry, chemical composition, cells

Citation

Miller, Regis B. 1999. Structure of wood. Wood handbook : wood as an engineering material. Madison, WI : USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, 1999. General technical report FPL ; GTR-113: Pages 2.1-2.4