Wood ID

Acer saccharum

Sugar maple

Juglans nigra

Black walnut

Prunus serotina

Black cherry

Pinus spp.

Southern yellow pine

Liriodendron tulipifera

Yellow-poplar

Quercus rubera

Red oak

Quercus alba

White oak

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

•Diffuse porous hardwood
•Light color, nearly white
•Pores solitary or in radial multiples—very small diameter
•Rays: two sizes: a) very small and b) as wide as widest pore

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)

•Semi-ring porous

•Dark brown heartwood

•Pores solitary or in radial multiples

•Tyloses present but variable

•Rays: indistinct to naked eye. Visible as fine lines

Black walnut (Juglans nigra)

Black cherry (Prunus serotina)

•Diffuse porous

•Heartwood light brown to dark reddish brown

•Pores: Uniformly distributed, small, distinct solitary and in multiples and small clusters

•Row of pores in earlywood delineates growth ring

•Rays: Distinct, light lines against darker cells

Black cherry (Prunus serotina)

Southern yellow pine (Pinus spp.)

•Resinous softwood

•Uneven grain—annual rings very distinct

•Abrupt transition from earlywood to latewood

•Resin canals numerous, visible to naked eye

•Rays: two widths

Southern yellow pine (Pinus spp.)

Yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)

•Diffuse porous

•Heartwood , greenish brown, purple, blue, black, yellow, and streaks of color.

•Pores: Solitary or multiples

•Growth ring distinct due to white color terminal parenchyma cells

•Rays: small, often swollen (noded) at ring boundary

Yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Red oak (Quercus rubera)

•Ring porous

•Earlywood pores up to four in width, abrupt transition to latewood

•Usually lacks tyloses

•Latewood pores distinct, countable, arranged in single radial rows

•Rays: Very large, easy to see with naked eye,3/8” to ¾” high on tangential face

Red oak (Quercus rubera)

White oak (Quercus alba)

•Ring porous

•Earlywood up to three pores wide

•Latewood pores small, too numerous to count, radial rows

•Tyloses usually abundant

•Rays commonly greater than one inch in height on tangential surface (can be several inches high)

White oak (Quercus alba)