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FOR 4362 Wood Structure and Forest Products

Lecture 3 Topics: - Softwood Structure

Softwoods: the mainstay of the wood products industry

Straight-grained Light in weight Fasteners attach easily Relatively homogeneous Long-fibers strong paper

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Longitudinal Tracheids
Makes up 90-95% of softwood Characteristics
About 100x greater in length than diameter
3-4 mm in length 25-45 m (microns) in length (25-45 millionths of a meter)

Rectangular in cross section Hollow centers (lumen) Closed at the end Pits are normally bordered

Earlywood to latewood transition in softwoods

Abrupt transition Gradual transition

Douglas-fir (below) Hard pines Larch

True firs Hemlock Eastern white pine

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Pits in tracheids
Bordered pits are tracheid to tracheid passages Remember that in each pit is a thickened central torus supported by a microfibral network known as the margo.
If the membrane shifts and the torus blocks the pit, the pit is said to be aspirated. Aspirated wood is resistant to penetration by wood preservatives Aspiration can be caused by the drying process Aspiration is more common in:
Sapwood to heartwood transition Earlywood

Longitudinal parenchyma
1-2% of softwood volume Same general shape as longitudinal tracheids, though subdivided by secondary cell walls along their length.
Mature parenchyma a series of short cells end-to-end

Thin walled Simple pits

Tangential view showing ray parenchyma

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Epithelium
Epithelial cells line resin canals Epithelial cells secret resin Longitudinal resin canals form when cells that fail to develop secondary cell crosswalls and remain thin walled these are epithelial cells and are visible in cross-section of wood Horizontal resin canals accompany longitudinal canals Horizontal canals are present in some of the rays Traumatic resin canals form in response to injury Larger and occur in tangential bands at start of growth ring.

Rays
Uniform narrow rays are the rule in softwoods except when horizontal resin canals are present Uniserate rays are one cell wide and many cells in height (tangential view)
Redwood rays are biserate (2 cells wide)

Rays may be composed of ray parenchyma or ray tracheids Fusiform ray contains a resin canal

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For test. Study Figure 4.12 and accompanying text, pages 75-77 in Chapter 4 of Shmulsky!

Silviculture and softwoods

Faster growth means tracheids with larger diameter (more earlywood formation) larger growth rings Lower specific gravity less strength

Pruning means fewer and smaller knots more clear, straight-grained wood and thus more strength and uniformity

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