In this article we will discuss about the features of some wood types:- 1. Wood of Magnolia 2. Wood of Shorea 3. Wood of Pinus.
1. Wood of Magnolia:
General properties:
Wood white, turning light yellowish-brown on ageing, soft to moderately hard; light to moderately heavy (sp. gr. 0.41-0.64 air dry); usually straight-grained and fine-textured.
Gross features:
Wood diffuse porous; growth rings distinct, delimited by concentric bands of soft tissues; pores small to moderately large, evenly distributed, solitary or in radial multiples of 2-3, round to oval, usually plugged with tyloses; vessel lines inconspicuous, scalariform perforation usually visible on the radial surface; soft tissues in concentric bands, delimiting the growth rings; rays fine to moderately broad, fairly closely spaced, evenly distributed.
2. Wood of Shorea:
General properties:
Sapwood and heartwood usually distinct; sapwood pale white with a brownish tinge; heartwood light brown to brown turning reddish-brown on exposures; usually heavy to very heavy (sp. gr. 0.62-1.00 air dry); interlocked-grained, often showing characteristic ribbon bands; medium to coarse-textured.
Gross features:
Wood diffuse-porous, growth rings usually absent or indistinctly marked, 2-6 rings per cm; occasional thick concentric bands of gum ducts; pores moderately large and fairly distinct to the eye, roundish to oval in shape, tyloses usually scanty; rays fine to moderately broad; gum ducts vertical, irregularly spaced; ripple marks normally absent but occasionally a tendency towards storeyed arrangement.
3. Wood of Pinus:
General properties:
Wood dark coloured, with distinct annual ring, resin ducts interspersed.
Gross features (Fig. 9.1):
Tracheids more or less quadrilateral in cross-section and possess one or two rows of bordered pits along the radial walls only; secondary medullary rays and resin canals and ducts forming an anastomosing system; medullary ray cells usually one-cell wide, narrow; bordered pitted ray tracheids elongate radially; bars of sanio or crassulae distinct.