Wood

The American Woods Project

Welcome to The American Woods Project
American Woods by Shelly E. Schoonover was published in 1951 (1st Edition) by Watling & Co. Santa Monica, California. The book is a quick reference tool that was researched and written by Mrs. Schoonover with a concentration on the trees and the medium of wood that comes from trees that are grown mainly in the U.S.A. and Canada.
While the book is over 60 years old, the content is still very relative to the arts, crafts and trades that is woodworking today.
Here, in this archive, I am in the process of transferring the content of American Woods to digital format. The format you are about to view this book in, is not your typical digitized .pdf document that is relatively easy to recreate, by simply removing the pages of a book from the cover and binding, and running them through a scanner, as many archivists do.
Instead what I have done, is manually transfer the content of American Woods by typing the content of the book into our wiki, and by scanning the images from the book and uploading them here, in order to display on the relative pages as they are in the book.
I have also taken the freedoms to use open source images from the world wide web to supplement the pages I recreated from American Woods, in order to bolster the material that Mrs. Schoonover created, and by adding visually stimulating graphics and images.
In Closing
What I am intending to do here is to replicate and buttress a wonderful research project that is held in high regard among forestry experts as one of the most understandable and reliable books about this subject that was written for the every day craftsman, artist, trades-person, and for those who just like this genre of research.
All the credit obviously goes to Mrs. Schoonover in creating the original 1951 work in which she diligently researched and as she pulled in her own expertise in the related field of forestry.
Through all this, I have become familiar with Mrs. Schoonover through clips and quips in research related articles, and I have found that even though she seemed to have been under the radar in her work and professional life as a US Forester, she was well regarded and highly respected among her peers for the research she was involved in, for her time and service in the US Forestry Department, and for her works created as in this "American Woods" project.
Enjoy!
Sincerely
John C. Morris
Links of interest
Handbook of American Woods Second Edition (revised and expanded 1955)
The Land We Cared For (a PDF book containing honorable mentions of Mrs. Schoonover)
A Revision of the North American Aphids of the Genus Myzus (a Google book containing credits to Mrs. Schoonover for her work within the stated project)

488 views

John Morris

November 21, 20241 yr

The Softwoods (Conifers)

Trees are generally classed in two groups, namely, Softwoods or Conifers, and Hardwoods or Broadleafs. Those classed as softwoods usually have needle-like or scale-like leaves and on all but the junipers, some cedars, yews, and a few others, the “fruit” is a “cone” or ball of woody, overlapping closed scales, beneath each scale of which is enfolded one or more seeds. The “cone” of the junipers and yews is a small berry-like fruit within the pulp of which one or more seeds are enveloped. Because the leaves or “needles” of most of the conifers, except the Baldcypress and larches, remain on the tree for several years, the name “evergreen” is given this group. The botanical name for these plants is Gymnosperm. The softwoods are technically designated as nonporous woods usually having resin canals, which include only the wood of Gymnospermae.

The softwood or conifer group of forest trees in the United States comprises 35 kinds of pines, 7 spruces, 3 larches or tamaracks, 4 hemlocks, 10 ﬁrs, 19 others, mostly cedars and cypresses, 4 yews and their relatives and 12 junipers, a total of 94 species. There is a total of about 845 native kinds of forest trees in the United States. In addition many exotic softwoods have been imported for ornamental and landscape purposes.
The hardness or softness of the wood does not have any bearing upon its classiﬁcation as a Softwood or a Hardwood tree. Some coniferous (softwood) trees are harder in texture than some hardwoods. Longleaf Pine and Paciﬁc Yew wood are very much harder than many hardwoods. There is much similarity in texture, grain and color of many of the softwoods. The most important representatives of the soft wood group are included in this book.

Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

472 views

John Morris

November 21, 20241 yr

The Hobby of Woodworking

A thing of beauty is a joy forever, Its loveliness increases, it will never pass into nothingness.
~John Keats~
Introduction
A hobby may be thought of as a favorite avocation or secondary occupation, or a diversion of attention from one’s normal daily occupation or vocation. Woodworking is an absorbing and fascinating hobby, which is not only a diversion but a means of cultivating skill and creating worthwhile products. Most of us appreciate the beauty of growing trees. For many, there is in addition to this appreciation, an urge to “get inside” of the rough bark of a tree and work with its wood. Craftsmen and hobbyists have long found wood a satisfying and convenient medium of expression for useful and artistic ends. The uniqueness of each piece of wood, as to grain, ﬁgure, and color makes it a tempting material the possibilities of which seem never exhausted. A woodworker’s or hobbyist’s interest inevitably grows, not only in a desire to produce better things but to experience the use of different kinds of wood. American woods alone have great potentialities, with the added advantage that many beautiful and workable species of them are readily accessible to anyone who takes up woodworking.

The legends of trees and the facts about their geographic origins and locations add zest to one’s experience in working with woods. Imagine the pleasure of making a desk name plate from Prairie or Wild Crab Apple, found in the northeastern States; an electric table lamp from Southern Waxmyrtle, found in the southeastern States, in conjunction with Pawpaw, American Smoketree (Yellowwood) and Cum Bumelia or Gum Elastic found in the central States; a bud vase from Elderberry or Cascara Buckthorn, found in the northwestern States; a fruit bowl from Tamarisk and Paciﬁc Madrona, found in the southwestern States; or a pair of salt and pepper shakers from the Lilac found in most of our States.

Our early American hardwoods were ﬁrst utilized by handicraft methods. Today, while many craftsmen still Choose this method, the use of power as well as hand tools characterizes most modern woodworking. As a result, a woodworking hobby provides the added interest in developing proﬁciency in the use of tools, in addition to the element of creativeness and ingenuity in planning and executing designs and articles in wood. Woodworking machinery and tools, in fact, offer a great opportunity to many individuals who wish to create worthwhile articles of wood, yet would be limited in their ability to do so with only simple hand methods.

Fortunately, American woods in abundance and tools to work with are at hand for the energetic hobbyist.
Improved Tools and Machinery
During the last decade a tremendous development has taken place in the production of woodworking machinery for the home workshop. It is no longer the exclusive privilege of the well-to-do to be able to acquire the various woodworking machines necessary for the operation of a well equipped home workshop. All types of woodworking machines can now be obtained in all price ranges. These machines have been tremendously important in the utilization of spare time and the development of hobbies, especially for professional people. Manual training has also become an increasingly important part of our public school systems, many of which have training centers well equipped with all types of woodworking machinery and tools. Men and women of all ages are taking advantage of these facilities.
Woodworking machines, of course, do not entirely replace hand tools, but they make it possible to widen the range of projects adaptable to the home workshop. Work can be done with greater precision and speed and often greater satisfaction. After gaining reasonable proﬁciency in the use of common carpenter hand tools, the natural desire is to expand the home workshop to include one or more of the woodworking machines.The circular saw, band saw, jig saw, lathe, planer, shaper, jointer, drill press, sander and other similar power machines are now available in all price ranges.
Use of American Woods
While the lumber in the common dry goods box or orange crate may be good starting material for the home craftsman, he soon will desire better and more attractive woods. There are a number of commercial concerns dealing exclusively in the distribution of rare and beautiful cabinet woods for the home wood craftsman. However, it is surprising to ﬁnd that the list of American commercial cabinet woods is comparatively limited. Aside from black walnut, maple, cherry, poplar and perhaps a dozen or so other species, the emphasis is predominantly on foreign woods. There are few, if any, commercial concerns handling ﬁne cabinet woods, who make a specialty of providing a wide selection of beautiful native woods which may be utilized by the home craftsman. Yet, within the limits of the continental United States may be found a very wide variety of ﬁne woods with exquisite color, grains, and markings. In fact, they are, with very few exceptions, as beautiful as most foreign woods now used in this country. A large number of these American Woods have not been put on the commercial market, mainly because the trees are not found in commercial forest stands in sufﬁcient quantity to make it proﬁtable to cut and season them especially for the lumber trade. Many of these woods, however, have been cut for veneer uses, which accounts for the fact that a very much larger number of American woods are available in veneer stock.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

254 views

John Morris

November 22, 20241 yr

Eastern White Pine

The Tree
The Eastern White Pine, the king of all trees east of the Mississippi, and upon which the lumber industry of the United States was founded, is a stately tree growing to a height of 100 to 150 feet and occasionally over 200 feet, and 3 to 6 feet in diameter. It has a straight trunk gradually tapering its full length with comparatively light straight limbs, and forming a rather open irregular top. The dark gray bark is deeply furrowed in long ridges. The needles are a bluish green 3 to 5 inches long, and are borne in bundles of ﬁve. The slender cones are from 5 to 10 inches long, usually curved and mature at the end of the second season. The white pines are very susceptible to the White Pine Blister Rust disease and large expenditures are made annually to combat the disease by destroying the alternate host, the wild currant and gooseberry bushes. Stands of this wonderful tree are gradually being depleted. From 1875 to 1895 sale of White Pine lumber made countless millionaires in the Lake States and New England. In 1873 a boom of White Pine logs containing 600 logs averaging 42 feet long and 4 feet in diameter. A million board feet of lumber, was taken from Muskegon, Michigan, to Chicago. Few of the larger specimens of this tree remain. In 1945 in Wisconsin a White Pine was found 140 ft high, with trunk circumference of 16 1/2 feet and containing 8,000 board feet of lumber. The tree was estimated to be about 400 years old.
The Eastern White Pine is the recognized but unofficial state tree of Maine, the Pine Tree State. It is also the recognized and the unofﬁcial State tree of Minnesota.
Common Names In Use
Eastern White Pine (trade)
Apple Pine
Balsam Pin (N.C.)
Canadian White Pine (trade)
Cork Pine (Mich.)
Minnesota White Pine (trade)
Northern Pine (S.C. and trade)
Pumpkin Pine (Mich. and trade)
Sapling Pine
Soft Cork White Pine (trade)
Soft Minnesota White Pine (trade)
Soft Pine (Pa.)
Soft White Pine (trade)
Spruce Pine (Tenn.)
Weymouth Pine (Mass., S.C.)
Wisconsin White Pine (trade)
White Pine (Me., N.H., Vt., Mass., R.I., Conn., N.Y., N.J., Pa., Del., Va., W. Va., N.C., Ga., Ind., Ill., Wis., Mich., Ohio, Ontario, Nebr.)
Eastern White Pine cone

Eastern White Pine tree bark

Growth Range
The natural growth range of Eastern White Pine is from Newfoundland to Lake Winnipeg in the province of Manitoba, Canada, southward through eastern Minnesota to the south eastern section of Iowa; eastward through Wisconsin and Michigan with scattered stands in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio; from Maine southward through the New England states, and the Appalachians along the Allegheny Mountains as far south as northern Georgia.

The Wood
The heartwood of Eastern White Pine is a very light creamy brown or tan slightly tinged with red, turning somewhat darker after exposure to the air. The sapwood is usually narrow to medium wide and a creamy white or pale yellowish color. The texture is ﬁne and very uniform, straight even grained, nonporous, soft, not stiff, with little or no ﬁgure. It seasons well with very little warping and is relatively free from resin. It is the carpenter’s delight as it is very easily worked,glued, carved and ﬁnished. It takes and holds paint well, nails easily but is only average in ability to hold screws and nails. Does not split easily in nailing. Stays in place when well seasoned.
49. Pinus Strobus L. H. by Romeyn B. Hough

Uses
The Eastern White Pine has long been famed for pattern making because of its clear uniform straight grain and soft ﬁne texture. It has a very wide variety of uses from matches, sash, doors, general construction, signs, interior trim, shade and map rollers, caskets, wooden-ware and novelties, toys, dairy and poultry supplies, boxes, cabinet making, boot and shoe ﬁndings, conduits, dairy, poultry and apiary supplies and hundreds of other uses.
Tongue and Groove pine flooring

Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

File Attributions

794 views

John Morris

November 22, 20241 yr

Tree Names

Usually a tree has two names, the common or local name and the “real name,” or scientiﬁc or botanical name, in Latin, generally used by botanists and others having a more technical interest. The generic name is used to include a group of closely related species. For example, “Pinus,” the classical Latin name for the pine tree group, includes all the species (kinds) of true pines. The secondary Latin name signiﬁes the particular species of that tree group, as “Pinus strobus,” the scientiﬁc or botanical name for White Pine (now called Eastern White Pine). The name of the scientist who discovered and named the particular species is sometimes indicated after the botanical name, as “Pinus strobus Linnaeus.” The use of a common name for a tree quite frequently results in much confusion because of the lack of universal agreement as to what should be the proper common name of a given tree. Some trees have from 10 to 25 different common names for the same species, depending upon the locality in which the tree is found. For example, Pinus ponderosa, which covers a wide range in the western half of North America, is the scientiﬁc name for Ponderosa or Western Yellow Pine, the common names usually accepted, but it also is called Bull Pine, Black Jack and many other common names in various parts of its range. In the United States Forest Service both common and scientiﬁc names of trees are passed upon by a special committee named by the Chief Forester. However, this committee collaborates in this work with the various colleges of the country in which the science of forestry is taught. In this book both the common and scientiﬁc names approved in the latest “Check List” of this special committee are given.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

407 views

John Morris

November 24, 20241 yr

State Trees

Introduction
You are viewing the "State Trees" section from the book title "American Woods" by Shelley E. Schoonover. The table below is a representation of our states official and or adopted trees from the publish date of 1951.
You may notice that the state of Alaska is not represented in the table below, since statehood was approved by Congress on July 7, 1958. Alaska was officially proclaimed a state on January 3, 1959.
Also Hawaii is not included in the states list below, statehood was granted on August 21, 1959, 8 years after the publishing of American Woods.
Legend and Definitions
"Spp." is the abbreviation for "species." It means that the author is referring to all species in that given genus. Often it is also used when the author doesn't know the specific species but knows that it is in a certain genus; i.e., there are many plants in the genus Salvia, and they can all be lumped together in Salvia spp.

(a) Officially designated by legislative action.
(b) Selected by popular vote of the people or unofficially recognized.
(c) Prominent tree growing within the State.

tate
Common Name
Botanical Name
Year Adopted
Alabama
(c) Slash Pine
Pinus cariaea

Arizona
(c) Honey Mesquite
Prosopis fuliflora

Arkansas
(a) Pine
Pinus spp.
1939
California
(a) Coast Redwood ("California Redwood")
Sequoia sempervirens
4/3/37
Colorado
(a) Colorado Blue Spruce
Picea pungens var. glauca
1939
Connecticut
(a) White Oak
Quercus alba
1947
Delaware
(a) American Holly ("Holly")
Ilex opaca
1939
District of Columbia
(c) American Sycamore and Black Cherry
Platanus occidentalis & Prunus serotina

Florida
(b) Cabbage Palmetto ("Cabbage Palm")
Quercus virginiana
1931
Georgia
(a) Live Oak
Quercus virginiana
1937
Idaho
(a) Western White Pine
Pinus monticola
2/13/35
Illinois
(a) Oak ("Native Oak")
Quercus spp.
1937
Indiana
(a) Yellow Poplar ("Tulip Tree")
Liriodendron tulipifera
1931
Iowa
(c) Black Walnut
Juglans nigra

Kansas
(a) Cottonwood
Populus spp.
1937
Kentucky
(b) Yellow Popular ("Tulip Tree")
Liriodendron tulipifera

Louisiana
(a) Southern Magnolia ("Evergreen") Englemann
Magnolia grandiflora
2/8/38
Maine
(b) Eastern White Pine ("Pine")
Pinus strobus

Maryland
(a) White Oak
Quercus alba
6/1/41
Massachusetts
(a) American Elm
Ulmus americana
March, 1941
Michigan
(b) Apple
Malus pumila

Minnesota
(b) Eastern White Pine
Pinus Strobes

Mississippi
(a) Southern Magnolia ("Evergreen")
Magnolia grandiflora
2/3/38
Missouri
(a) Engelmann Hawthorn ("Red Haw")
Crataegus engelmanni
1931
Montana
(b) Ponderosa Pine
Pinus Ponderosa

Nebraska
(c) Eastern Cottonwood
Populas deltoides

Nevada
(c) Single Leaf Pinyon Pine
Pinus monophylla

New Hampshire
(c) White Birch
Betula lutea

New Jersey
(c) Atlantic White Cedar
Chamaecyparis thyoides

New Mexico
(c) Pinyon Pine
Pinua edulis

New York
(b) Sugar Maple
Acer saccaharophorum

North Carolina
(b) Yellow Poplar ("Tulip Tree")
Piriodendron tulipifera

North Dakota
(b) Green Ash
Fraxinum pennsylvanica var. lanceolata

Ohio
(b) Ohio Buckeye ("Buckeye")
Aesculus glabra

Oklahoma
(a) Eastern Rebud ("Rebud Tree")
Cercis canadensis
3/30/37
Oregon
(a) Douglas Fir
Pseudotsuga taxifolia
3/7/39
Pennsylvania
(a) Eastern Hemlock ("Hemlock")
Tsuga canadensis
1931
Rhode Island
(a) Maple
Acer spp.
April, 1984
South Carolina
(a) Cabbage Palmetto ("Palmeto")
Sabal palmetto
1939
South Dakota
(b) Cottonwood
Populus spp.

Tennessee
(b) Eastern Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana

Texas
(a) Pecan ("Pecan Tree")
Carya illinoensis (syn. Hicoria pecan)
1919 & 3/25/27
Utah
(a) Colorado Blue Spruce
Picea pungens var. glauca
2/20/33
Vermont
(b) Sugar Maple
Acer saccharophorum

Virginia
(a) Flowering Dogwood
Cornus florida
1918
Washington
(a) Western Hemlock
Tsuga heterophylla
1947
West Virginia
(a) White Oak
Quercus alba
1935
Wisconsin
(b) Sugar Maple
Acer saccharophorum

Wyoming
(c) Lodgepole Pine
Pinus contortata var. latifolia

Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

497 views

John Morris

November 24, 20241 yr

How a Tree Grows

The accompanying illustrations gives a graphic picture of the physical properties of a tree. There are three primary parts to a tree: the roots, the trunk, and the crown. The roots extract from the soil the water and mineral salts needed by the tree in its growth. They also store up the food manufactured by the leaves, and hold the tree firmly in place. The trunk is the main body of the tree from which lumber is manufactured. Each year a new layer of wood is added to the trunk of the tree. These layers produce the "grain" and "figure" of the wood.

The crown embraces the branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit. Water and sunshine give life to the tree and are limiting factors in its growth.

It is not our purpose to go into a great deal of detail with regard to tree growth since this is a specialized study. The illustration is included to give a general picture of the physical make-up of a tree and to form a basis for the study which follows of the beauty and usefulness of many kinds of woods found in the United States.

Illustration Pg. 7 American Woods

Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

1,104 views

John Morris

November 24, 20241 yr

Cross - Section of Tree Trunk

Definitions
A. - CAMBIUM. A very thin layer of living cells lying between the inner bark and sapwood, where the new wood and bark cells develop each year.
B. - INNER BARK. Serves to carry the food manufactured by the leaves to the cambium layer.
C. - OUTER BARK. The inner bark gradually transforms into the outer bark, a corky layer of dry dead cells forming a protective covering.
D. - SAPWOOD. The lighter colored band of wood between the inner bard and darker heartwood. It carries the sap from the roots to the leaves.
E. - HEARTWOOD. Formed by a gradual change in the sapwood by which it becomes darker, heavier and often more durable. Most trees form heartwood. It is inactive but gives strength to the trunk.
F. - PITH. The soft spongy tissue in the center of the tree trunk and all branches. The pith in some trees is so small it is not discernible without greatly magnifying it.
G. - MEDULLARY RAYS. Wood rays or medullary rays are very small, flat, vertical bands or ribbon-shaped sheets of tissue (ducts) connecting the pith with the various layers of wood and the inner bark, and by which food and water are stored and transported horizontally in the tree.
H. - ANNUAL RING. Each year a tree adds an additional layer of wood to is circumference, this layer forming immediately beneath the bark and is called "annual ring" or "growth ring". In the spring the newly formed cells are thin-walled and spongy, called "springwood," while in midsummer and fall the walls of the cells become thicker and more dense, called "summerwood."
Summary
Springwood and Summerwood: Annual rings are divided into two layers, the inner and the outer. The soft open wood of the inner layer formed in the springtime is called "springwood,' and the more dense and harder outer layer formed in the summertime or balance of the growing season is called "summerwood." These layers differ in physical properties. In the "springwood" the cells have rather large cavities and thin walls and the wood is softer, weaker and lighter in weight than the "summerwood." Climate, soil and habitat influence the rate of growth and consequently the size of the cells. Some species such as catalpa, willows, cottonwood, loblolly pine and some of the oaks, have wide annual rings in which the "springwood" and "summerwood" may be identified without great difficulty. Other species such as the persimmon, maple, gum, birth and magnolia have narrow annual rings in which the "spring-wood" and "summerwood" are difficult to detect.

The "wood increment" is the annual wood growth of the tree each year. The figures produced by the growth rings when sawed by different methods are very pronounced and attractive in some woods such as ash, butternut, birch, chestnut, elm, oak, black walnut and many others.

Sapwood and Heartwood: The outer active portion of the tree, next to the bark, through which the sap (water and salts) flows from the roots upward and which forms the living tissues of the tree, is called Sapwood. The portion from the inside edge of the sapwood to the center ( or pith) of the tree is called Heartwood, or what Foresters call a dead core without vital functions so far as the life of the tree is concerned. Its technical functions are mechanical only, giving strength to the trunk. As a rule the sapwood is void of very much color or distinctive markings. In some woods such as osage-orange, black cherry, butternut and Kentucky coffee-tree, the sapwood is very narrow. In other woods such as basswood, hackberry, maple, loblolly pine and beech the sapwood is very wide. In the description of the wood under each species the distinction in color between the sapwood and heartwood is given. The bark discolors the sapwood in some woods if it is not immediately removed after the tree is cut. Sap stain of a bluish color is frequently imparted to some woods if the log is left in the forest or in the skidways any length of time. Generally logs should be sawed into lumber very soon after the trees are felled.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

american woods

928 views

John Morris

November 26, 20241 yr

Seasoning of Wood

A live tree contains a great amount of water in the walls and cell cavities of the fibers of the wood. When the log is cut into lumber and exposed to the air, the fibers shrink and dry out as the water in the wood is evaporated. The seasoning process consists of the elimination of water from the wood pores. If the drying process is not done properly the wood checks, warps, splits and is subject to stain and insect attack. The degree to which the water content is removed from the wood depends upon the purposes for which the seasoned lumber is to be used. For some purposes, such as for boxes or crating, the wood need not be thoroughly dry, while wood used in the manufacture of furniture, fixtures, etc. must be thoroughly dry and very well seasoned. In general the wood used by the aver-age home craftsman must be thoroughly seasoned.

There are two principal processes used in seasoning wood, namely air drying and kiln drying. As a rule the quantity of lumber of any particular kind used by the home craftsman is comparatively small and his lumber is obtained from a local lumber yard or from a dealer specializing in woods for his use. He should insist upon getting thoroughly seasoned lumber and, if possible, obtain dry-kilned supplies.

There are a number of publications available regarding the specialized processes of seasoning lumber, and since the average home craftsman is not equipped for seasoning lumber by the dry-kiln process, this discussion will be limited to a brief description of air drying.

Air drying consists of piling the lumber, usually outdoors, in such a way that the air can circulate throughout the pile and thus absorb the moisture from the wood through evaporation. The atmospheric conditions in the locality and the way in which the lumber is piled influences the degree and speed with which the moisture in the lumber is removed. It usually requires many months to properly season lumber by air drying. If the lumber is carefully and properly piled and stripped with narrow pieces called "stickers", air drying can be accomplished so as to avoid warping, excessive checking, stain, decay or insect infestation.

A proper base should be prepared upon which the lumber is to be piled so that there will be proper drainage and the air can pass freely underneath, around and through the pile. The boards or lumber should be laid in rows with air spaces between each piece and narrow strips or stickers placed from 2 to 4 feet apart and spaced uniformly throughout the pile, directly over each other and at both ends placed flush or slightly beyond the ends of the board. The layers are given a pitch of about one inch to the foot for drainage. The pile should be situated so as to take full advantage of the prevailing winds and should be sloped from the front to the rear for proper drainage during rainy weather. A "roof", or top protective covering should be put over the lumber pile consisting of a double layer of boards placed crosswise to the pile and overlapping each other. The roof should be stripped so that it will be approximately five or six inches above the first layer of lumber and provide ample air circulation. It should overlap one to two feet in front but only a few inches in the rear, sufficient to reasonably deflect the rain from the pile.

If lumber is dried too rapidly excessive checking and warping occurs. This can be controlled by using thinner stickers, making wider piles, narrowing the spaces between the boards in the piles and also between piles, placing covers over the piles as a protection against the weather and reducing the flow of air through the vents.

Some lumber companies stand the lumber on end and at an angle, leaving spaces between the boards and stripping between the rows, and without a roof covering. This system is followed to some extent in the Southern states where the rainfall is comparatively light. Piling is also done in this manner by some concerns in the Pacific Northwest with certain species of lumber. However, more satisfactory and thorough results are obtained by air drying lumber in piles as above explained.

It may be found more convenient to the average craftsman to air-dry his lumber in a building or open shed to avoid excessive exposure to the weather.

Quite frequently the home craftsman desires to season a small section of a log or limb without sawing it into pieces of lumber. Sections from a small or medium sized tree or limb can be dried conveniently by placing a good covering of paraffin over each end of the piece and over each cut where a branch has been cut off, and storing it in a dry place where the air can freely circulate all around it. A sealer such as is used by nurserymen when trimming trees may also be used in lieu of the paraffin. Ample time should be allowed for the moisture to be completely evaporated from the piece. Usually this will require several months to a year or more.

Any craftsman desiring to study the subject of wood seasoning in more detail may obtain a number of bulletins on the subject at small cost from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

466 views

John Morris

November 26, 20241 yr

Methods of Cutting Logs Into Lumber and Veneers

There are three methods used in producing lumber from logs so as to obtain economical utilization or develop the beautiful grains and figures found in the various kinds of trees, namely:

(a) Plain-sawed - When the log is sawed lengthwise and tangent to the annual growth rings or at right angles to the medullary rays the cut is called "plain-sawed" lumber in hardwoods and "flat-grain" or "slash-grain" lumber in softwoods. This is the most economical manner of producing lumber with the least waste. Also in many trees such as ash, chestnut, elm, and most softwoods ( conifers) the plain-sawed method shows the best grain and figure in the wood.

(b) Quarter-sawed - When the log is sawed parallel to the radius or rays, across the rings from the bark to the center, the cut is called "quarter-sawed" in hardwoods and "edge-grain," "vertical-grain" or "rift-sawed" lumber in softwoods. Some species have very prominent medullary rays which accounts for the beautiful figure shown in such quarter-sawed woods as oak, maple, and sycamore.

( c) Veneers - Veneers are produced in four ways, namely:
Rotary Veneer - When the log is rotated against the edge of a sharp knife which pares off a thin continuous ribbon or strip the full width of the veneer log or bolt.
Sliced Veneer - When the log is sliced by being moved lengthwise against a large knife.
Sawed Veneer - When the log is sawed lengthwise in thin slabs, this usually being done with fine toothed saws.
Cone Cut - When the veneer is shaved from the end of a cylindrical bolt of wood similar to the manner in which a pencil is sharpened.

Sawed or sliced veneers may be cut from a veneer log in any direction. Sawed veneer may be cut so as to obtain a "sliver grain" or "quartered sawed" figure. In rotary veneer the growth-ring figure of the log is continuous and extends through the log so that as a thin slice is taken off, the pattern is the same, and one piece can be switched with another cut from the same veneer bolt. Usually the entire volume from a veneer bolt is sold commercially as a unit because no two logs have the same figure. Veneers usually range in thickness from 1/28 to 3/16 inch thick. Some veneers, however, are cut paper thin.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

770 views

John Morris

November 26, 20241 yr

The Hardwoods (Broadleafs)

The Hardwoods are commonly known as Broadleaf trees because of their broad netted-vein leaves. The botanical name for these plants is Dicotyledon. They are usually deciduous. Generally they grow in Temperate Zones and at comparatively low elevations. Our native forest hardwoods comprise 17 maples and boxelders, 7 birches, 61 oaks, 18 hickories, 19 ashes, 6 elms, 15 cottonwoods and poplars, 22 willows, 14 wild cherries, 11 wild plums, 10 wild apples, 178 hawthorns, 6 hackberries, 5 gums, 9 magnolias and 297 other miscellaneous species, including such trees as the mulberries, holly, locusts, persimmon, dogwood and walnuts. In addition, a large number of exotic trees, mostly hardwoods, have been introduced into the United States. They were brought in principally for ornamental and landscape planting, but many of them have escaped cultivation and have become well established in the forests, woodlots and along streams in the different sections of our country. This is true, for example, of the Chinaberry, Ailanthus, Tamarisk, Mimosa, and many others.

The wood produced from hardwood trees may be either hard or soft in texture; the hardness or softness of the wood does not necessarily place it in the softwood or hardwood classiﬁcation. The wood of some hardwood trees, such as Basswood and Boxelder, is very much softer in texture than the wood of most softwood or coniferous trees.

Included in this volume is a representative list of hardwoods, selected because of their commercial importance, diversity of color and characteristics of grain, texture and ﬁgure.

Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

666 views

John Morris

November 26, 20241 yr

Grains and Figures in Wood

Introduction
Burls, knots, medullary rays, annual growth rings, grains in the lumber such as wavy grain and cross grain, variations in the coloring matter irregularly distributed in the wood, or other distortion formed in the tree either from injury or the hazards of nature, form different patterns or figures in wood. The beauty of these ﬁgures or patterns may be greatly enhanced by the various methods of cutting the lumber from the log as previously explained. Some semblance of pattern or ﬁgure is found in all kinds of wood. In some woods the ﬁgure is very pronounced and strikingly variegated while in other woods it is obscure and rather difﬁcult to identify. No two human beings are absolutely identical. Twins appear alike but there is usually some distinguishing characteristic. Similarly, no two pieces of wood are exactly alike or have exactly the same ﬁgure; there are differences in color, ﬁgure, texture and other physical properties. There follows a description and illustration of the most important grains and ﬁgures found in wood:
Grain Types
1. Even grain (Page 23) is found in lumber in which the contrast between “springwood” and “summerwood” is small and rather difﬁcult to identify. The annual rings are quite uniform in width and the wood elements are parallel to the pith, such as in Birch, Maple, White Pine or Spruce. White Pine has a very even grain which makes it very desirable for pattern making.

2. Uneven grain is a term applied to lumber having a wide “summerwood,” and the growth rings are variable, wavy, and irregular such as Chestnut, Hackberry, and Osage-orange. The American Chestnut specimen shown on page 23 not only shows the uneven grain but emphasizes the attractive growth rings when cut at an angle of about 45°.

3. Straight grain applies to lumber in which the fibers are straight and parallel to the center or pith of the log, such as Pine, Fir, Redwood, Baldcypress and White Cedar. The straight grain of the Grand Fir shown on page 23 stands out prominently because of the resin ducts in the growth rings.

Page 23

4. Coarse grain (Page 24) applies to woods cut from rapidly growing trees. Where the pores are large and the annual growth rings are wide and conspicuous, the wood is called “coarse-grained” or “coarse textured" such as Ash, Sumac and Oak.

5. Close grain usually occurs in woods cut from slowly growing trees. Where the pores are small or closely spaced and the annual growth rings are narrow and inconspicuous, the wood is called “close-grained” or “ﬁne-textured" such as Sugar Maple, Beech, Sycamore, Black Cherry, American Holly, Yellow Birch or Magnolia. A very good example of close grain is the American Holly shown on page 24.

6. Edge grain. “Edge grain” or “vertical grain” is obtained when lumber is sawed parallel to the center or pith of the log and approximately at right angles to the growth rings, the rings being 45º or more to the surface of the cut. This type of lumber is used to a large extent for ﬂooring to provide strength and long wear. The edge grain may be easily distinguished in a considerable number of our woods but none perhaps more outstanding than the Baldy cypress, shown on page 24.

Page 24

7. Flat grain. “Flat grain” is obtained when lumber is sawed parallel to the center or pith of the log but tangent to the growth rings, the rings being less than 45º to the surface of the cut. The ﬂat grain is doubtless the most common ﬁgure, best displayed in large wide boards. However, the small specimen of Yellow Birch shown on page 25 is a good example.

8. Spiral grain is a type of cross-grain and applies to lumber in which the ﬁbers interweave and take a spiral or twisted direction, which may be either left-handed or right-handed, the latter being the most common. This grain is quite common in larch and horse chestnut wood. The wide growth rings of the Northern Catalpa shown on page 25 bring out clearly the spiral effect.

9. Diagonal grain is also a type of cross grain, and is not a natural phenomenon in the tree. It is obtained by the method of cutting the log into lumber, usually through poor milling practice, or in cutting crooked logs, where the cut is not made parallel to the ﬁbers. When straight grain logs are not cut parallel with the ﬁbers, a diagonal grain is obtained. The diagonal grain in the Black Walnut specimen shown on page 25 is made by cutting a straight grain board diagonally.

Page 25

10. Interlocked or cross grain is found in some lumber in which the spiral ﬁbers of the annual growth tend to grow in opposite directions. Some species have a more or less pronounced interlocked or cross-grain in a considerable proportion of trees, such as Winged Elm and to a certain extent in the Gums, Beech and Sycamore. The quarter-sawed American Sycamore shown on page 26 is a good example of the interlocked or cross-grain.

11. Silver grain. (Page 26) In quarter-sawed Oak and Sycamore lumber where the medullary rays are large and look like “ﬂecks” or “ﬂakes” the wood is called “silver grain.” When such lumber is cut so that the large rays appear at nearly right-angles to the ﬁbers, this silver grain is very prominent and attractive. In matching such pieces so that the silver grain of one piece is ﬁtted so that the angle of the “flakes” is reversed, the ﬁgure is called a “herring bone.”

12. Stripe or ribbon ﬁgure is found in quarter-sawed lumber having more or less an “interlocked or cross-grain” where the layers consist of alternating light and dark stripes, running lengthwise of the piece. Usually the grain runs alternately inward and out-ward. Not many American species produce this unusual grain. It is occasionally found in the Gums, Black Walnut, and a few other woods.

13. Blister ﬁgure is found in plain-sawed lumber or rotary-cut veneer and is produced by an uneven contour of the annual rings which have knoll-like elevations. This ﬁgure is not caused by blisters or pockets in the wood, but irregular growth. It is especially prized in the Maples, Birch and Yellow Poplar. The beautiful blister ﬁgure of the Sugar Maple is shown on page 26.

Page 26

14. Quilted ﬁgure (Page 27) somewhat resembles the blister ﬁgure except the blisters are larger and cover a greater area of the board. The tree trunk below the larger limbs of leaning trees is under great pressure which causes the ﬁbers to form corrugations in the grain. When the log is cut tangentially, this beautiful quilted ﬁgure is obtained. This unusual and attractive ﬁgure is obtained in Maple and several other hardwoods.

15. Wang ﬁgure. When the ﬁbers have a wavy or “wrinkling” arrangement a wavy ﬁgure is produced. This occurs most frequently at the base of the tree Where the roots join the stem, or immediately below the crotch where the limb extends from the trunk. It occurs in Birch, Maple, Redwood and infrequently in some other woods. The wavy ﬁgure of Sugar Maple shown on page 27 is especially pleasing.

16. Fiddle-backﬁgure. (Page 27) The ﬁgure commonly known as “ﬁddle-back” is an unusual and very beautiful ﬁgure caused by natural ﬂuctuations due to local conditions or inﬂuences on growth producing ﬁne regular waves or ripples. It is this ﬁgure which is extensively used for the back of violins. This ﬁgure is found principally in Sugar Maple and Mahogany and occasionally in other woods. When the log is cut radially the ﬁddle-back ﬁgure is most outstanding and attractive.

Page 27

17. Mottle ﬁgure. This is a very beautiful and outstanding ﬁgure formed when the ﬁbers extend irregularly in short wavy conﬁgurations in variegated patterns. Several types of the mottle ﬁgure are produced when the grain of the wood is twisted or interwoven. It is frequently found in quarter-sawed boards and especially in Walnut butt veneers. The mottle ﬁgure of the Black Walnut is used extensively in cabinet work.

18. Snail ﬁgure.This very unusual ﬁgure is so named because of the resemblance of the ﬁne curved lines to a snail pattern. It resembles a burl somewhat, but the snail ﬁgure is found in the trunk and stump of the tree rather than in the burl formation. The beauty of the ﬁgure is greatly enhanced by the careful cutting of the veneers. The snail ﬁgure is rather uncommon and usually conﬁned to Black Walnut.

19. Finger Roll ﬁgure. As the name implies, this ﬁgure occurs when the ﬁbers form a wavy pattern of ﬁnger size which extend across the grain or cross-ﬁgure, principally found in radially cut lumber. It is frequently found in ﬁddle-back, raindrop and mottle ﬁgures. The ﬁnger roll ﬁgure in the Sugar Maple is conspicuous - shown on page 28.

20. Bird’s-Eye ﬁgure. (Page 28) This beautiful ﬁgure is a phenomenon in wood the cause of which is not deﬁnitely known. Bird’s-eyes are conical indentations or tiny knots in the grain of the wood, usually extending from near the center of the log to the outside layer and discernible also in the bark. Some trees are found, however, in which the bird’s-eyes extend only a few inches from the outer portion of the log. The ﬁbers are greatly distorted into what appears as small pimples or depressions in the annual rings. When once formed, the annual growth rings usually follow the same contour for years. When these depressions or pimples are cut through crosswise the ﬁgure suggests a bird’s eye. The birds eye is most frequently found in a small percentage of Sugar Maple, but may also be found in other hardwoods such as Soft Maple, White Ash and Yellow Birch. A beautiful Juniper bird’s-eye log, about 12 inches in diameter, was found in the Rocky Mountains. Such trees are very rare, however.

21. Curly ﬁgure. The curly effect appears in wood in which the ﬁbers form waves or undulations, generally surrounding knots in the tree trunk, the distorted tissues forming this outstanding ﬁgure. It is quite common in Yellow Birch and Sugar Maple, although it is frequently found in many other hardwoods. It is seldom found in softwoods. Occasionally a very unusual curly grain is found, which because of its strange ﬁgure is called “Landscape grain.” While the curly grain is generally identified with Yellow Birch and Sugar Maple, it is occasionally found in Long-leaf Pine such as shown on page 28.

Page 28

22. Burl. A burl is a wart-like abnormal growth on the outside layer of a tree trunk, usually resulting from an injury to the tree. A burl contains the dark pith of a large number of buds which have not developed, and the ﬁbers are very distorted, irregular and do not run in any particular direction. This phenomenon may occur in any kind of tree. The burls of Black Walnut, Maple, California Laurel, Redwood, Black Cherry, Ash and Birch are exceedingly beautiful and are highly prized for cutting veneers used in the manufacturing of ﬁne furniture or expensive novelties. Many kinds of our trees provide burls which are most attractive. The Black Ash burl shown on page 29 is an excellent specimen.

23. Swirl. (Page 29) Where the ﬁbers are considerably contorted in barrel-shaped bulges in the log, a veneer cut produces a ﬁgure of curly grain or “swirl.” It is greatly mottled and burl-like. This conspicuous and unique ﬁgure is also greatly prized for the manufacture of furniture, and is found in a considerable number of hardwoods.

24. Knots. (Page 29) A knot is the base of a limb usually originating at or near the center of the tree. Knots due to suckers or sprouts originate near the outside of the tree trunk. They usually slope upward. Knots give a distinct ﬁgure and are attractive in some woods, such as in Eastern Red Cedar, for the manufacture of cedar chests, in pine or cedar called “Knotty Pine” or “Knotty Cedar,” used for interiors of homes and ofﬁces. The knots, however, must be solid or “tight.”

Page 29

25. Crotch ﬁgure is obtained from the tree where the large limbs join the main stem, or from the main forks of the larger limbs.It is usually Y-shaped, and is a striking ﬁgure. The most conspicuous types of it are generally found in Black Walnut. The crotch ﬁgure is rather common but nonetheless attractive in the Black Walnut specimen shown on page 30.

26. Feather Crotch ﬁgure (Page 30) is one in which the ﬁber alignment fans out giving the appearance of a cluster of feathers, caused by the twisted and crushed grain of the crotch-wood. The outside slices of the crotch generally produce a swirl ﬁgure changing to the feather or regular crotch ﬁgures as the slices approach the center of the piece.

27. Moonshine Crotch is a swirl ﬁgure in the crotch. The moonshine ﬁgure is very uncommon.

28. Stump-wood ﬁgure is obtained from the bell-shaped tree base immediately above the roots. The suppressed and twisted ﬁbers in this area of the stem form an attractive ﬁgure called stump-wood ﬁgure. The stump-wood ﬁgure of Black Walnut is not particularly attractive although it is used with good results in combination with other ﬁgures.

29. Pigment ﬁgure is the name given to the distinctive ﬁgure caused by the irregular distribution of the color pigment in the wood, resulting in streaks or patches that are darker than the surrounding wood. Pigment-ﬁgured red gum is an example of this ﬁgure. The pigment ﬁgure of the Sweet Gum shown on page 30. displays prominently the color contrast in this wood.

Page 30
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

911 views

John Morris

November 26, 20241 yr

Butternut

The Tree
The Butternut is usually not a large tree, seldom being more than 35 to 50 feet high and having a short trunk 12 to 30 inches in diameter, but in the forest it may occasionally grow from 80 to 100 feet high and three to four feet in diameter. The branches spread out into a wide symmetrical crown when the tree grows singly in open areas. It is very commonly called White Walnut and is very similar to Black Walnut in its shape and many other characteristics. The Butternut tree is prized more for its edible nuts than for the lumber it produces. The tree is comparatively short-lived and is very susceptible to breakage from the ravages of the weather and to attack by insects and disease. The nut is oblong in shape and deep-ridged. The kernel is very sweet, delicious in ﬂavor, and is very rich and oily for which reason the name Oil-Nut is sometimes given the tree. The husk is pear shaped, sticky and has some properties as a dye of a yellow or orange color. The sap of the Butternut is very sweet and a syrup of fair quality may be made from it, but it is difﬁcult to concentrate into sugar cakes as is done with maple sap.

Common Names in Use
Butternut (Me, N.H., Vt., Mass, R.I., Conn., N.Y., N.J., Pa., Del., W. Va., N.C., S.C., Ala., Ark., Ky., Tenn, Mo., Ill., Iowa, Ind., Mich., Minn.,Wis., Kans., Nebr., Ohio, Ontario)
American White Walnut (trade)
Butternut (N.J.)
Lemon Walnut (lit)
Oil Nut (Me., Minn., N.H., S.C.)
Walnut (Minn)
White Walnut (Del., Pa., Tenn., Va., W. Va., N.C., S.C., Ala., Ky., Mo., Ill., Ind., Wis., Iowa., Nebr., Minn., S.Dak.)
Butternut Tree Bark

Butternut Foliage

Growth Range
The growth range of Butternut extends from New Brunswick, southern Quebec, and southern Ontario throughout the northeastern section of the United States from New England westward through New York to the southern part of the Lake States and southeastern corner of South Dakota as far south as northern Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the northwestern tip of South Carolina.

The Wood
Butternut wood is lighter in weight and not as strong or durable as Black Walnut. It is coarse-grained, soft in texture. The heartwood is a gray-brown or light-chestnut-brown color, sometimes with a reddish tinge. The sapwood is narrow and a light-gray or light-brown color. When ﬁnished, the wood has a beautiful satiny luster. It may be worked easily with all types of tools, but being a soft wood must be worked with care and with very sharp tools.
14. Juglans Cinerea Linnaeus by Romeyn B. Hough

Uses
The wood is used mainly for interior ﬁnish and in the manufacture of furniture, some wooden ware and other cabinet work. It is used by wood carvers,and church altars are made of it. When quarter-sawed it has a very attractive ﬁgure and grain and may well be used to a greater extent in cabinet work and novelties.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

730 views

John Morris

November 26, 20241 yr

Western White Pine

The Tree
The Western White Pine, known as the Silver Pine in the Northwest, is very different in appearance from the Eastern White Pine, although similar in the character of the wood. Western White Pine is a symmetrical tree towering to a height of 175 feet with a trunk diameter up to 5 feet. It ranks as one of the most important soft wood trees of our country. It has a very long clear trunk, slender drooping branches, needles of pale bluish green 3 to 5 inches long, in bundles of ﬁve. The bark is comparatively smooth, thin and uniformly broken by medium furrows forming oblong blocks. The cones are 6 to 12 inches long, slightly curved and slender. This tree is still a very important one in the lumber industry. Young trees are very susceptible to the White Pine Blister Rust disease which kills large areas of young growth each year. The pine bark beetle also does widespread damage.
The speciﬁc name MONTICOLA means mountain-dweller. The Western White Pine is a beautiful forest conifer, and being the ofﬁcial State tree of Idaho, it is quite commonly known as the Idaho White Pine. It attains its best growth in Idaho.
Common Names in Use
Western White Pine (trade)
Norway Western White Pine (trade)
Finger-cone Pine (Calif.)
Silver Pine (Northwest States)
Idaho White Pine (trade)
Soft Pine (Calif.)
Little Sugar Pine (Calif.)
Soft Idaho White Pine (trade)
Mountain Pine (Calif.)
Western White Pine
Mountain Weymouth Pine
White Pine (Calif., Nev., Oreg.)
Growth Range
The growth range of Western White Pine extends from the southern region of British Columbia southward along the Cascade Mountains and the Sierra Nevada's through Washington and Oregon to central California, and eastward into western Montana and northern Idaho. The heaviest stands are found in northern Idaho, eastern Washington and western Montana.

The Wood
The heartwood of Western White Pine is very light cream to light reddish brown or yellow to orange color, and like the Eastern White Pine darkens somewhat on exposure. The sapwood is narrow to medium wide and a nearly white to pale yellowish white. The wood is straight-grained, resin ducts are small, numerous and conspicuous. The rays are very ﬁne and not visible to the naked eye. It is moderately stiff but rather weak, moderately soft, straight, even-grained, very uniform in texture, very free from resin, light weight and easily worked. Glues and holds paint very well and does not easily split in nailing. When well seasoned the wood stays in place and shrinks very little.
221. Pinus Monticola, Dougl. by Romeyn B. Hough

This lumber has the same uses as Eastern White Pine and is in great demand for pattern making, this being the standard species for this purpose; building construction, matches, ﬁxtures, cabinets, sash, doors, interior trim, boxes, crates and other containers, toys, dairy and poultry supplies, turned articles, and endless other uses where a soft wood of straight grain, non-porous and uniform texture is desired.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

551 views

John Morris

November 28, 20241 yr

Black Walnut

The Tree
The Black Walnut tree is one of the best known and most valuable of all forest trees native to the United States. It is of value not only because of its beautiful and highly prized wood but for its delicious nuts used in foods such as candy, bread, cakes, and ice cream. It is strictly an American tree, growing naturally nowhere else. It has been proposed frequently as our national tree and has been known for generations as the “tree of the gods and kings.” In 1945 a Black Walnut tree in Kentucky was sold alive for $1,500 and was cut up into veneers worth $35,000. The stumps of some large trees have been sold at fabulous prices for use as veneers. Black Walnut is usually a well-shaped tree of moderately rapid growth for a hardwood, and attains large size. It is not uncommon to find walnut trees 100 feet tall and three feet in diameter. The tree requires deep, rich, moist, but well drained soils. The bark is dark and rather deeply grooved. The leaves are one to two feet long, and have 15 to 23 narrow, sharply-toothed, slender-pointed leaﬂets. The nuts, which are one and one-eighth to one and one-half inches in diameter, have a very hard deeply grooved shell encased in a ball-like hull, from one and one-half to two inches in diameter, consisting of a black, thick pulp having a mottled, light green covering. The nuts within the pulp must be removed with care as the pulp stains everything it touches and is difﬁcult to remove before it is thoroughly dried. A yellow dye is made from the bark, and husks of the nuts.
Common Names in Use
Black Walnut (N.H., Vt., Mass. R.I., Conn., N.Y., N.J., Del., Pa., Va., W.Va., N.C., Tenn., Ga., Fla., Ala., Miss., Tex., La., Ark., Ky., Mo., Ind., Ill., Kans., Nebr., Iowa, Mich., Ohio, S.Dak., Minn., Ontario)
American Black Walnut (trade)
American Walnut (trade)
Dent-soo-kwa-no-ne "Round Nut" (N.Y. Indians)
Gun-Wood (trade)
Walnut (N.Y., Del., W.Va., Fla., Ky., Tenn., Mo., Ohio, Ind., Iowa)
Walnut-tree (Pa., S.C.)
Black Walnut Foliage and Nuts

Black Walnut Tree Bark

Growth Range
The natural growth range of Black Walnut extends from Massachusetts to southern Ontario and central Nebraska southward throughout the eastern half of the United States, excepting the Atlantic coastal plain south of Virginia, the Gulf coast region, and the lower Mississippi Valley. It attains its best growth in the central portion of this range in deep, rich, moist and well-drained soils.

The Wood
The Black Walnut heartwood varies somewhat from light to dark chocolate brown with frequent alternate light and almost black stripes which produce very beautiful figured effects. The narrow sapwood is nearly white with a narrow shading into the darker heartwood and gradually turns darker upon exposure. This wood is hard, strong, works well with tools and is one of the most desirable and useful of all American woods. The darker the wood the more valuable it is, and for this reason it is a quite frequent practice to stain or steam the sapwood to match the heartwood. Also, the stain is sometimes forced through the entire board to produce the more valuable deep dark brown color. The crotches, burls and stumps produce exceptional ﬁgured and mottled designs and are very valuable for high quality veneers. The knots, crooks, irregular growth and curly or wavy grain, especially near the knots, produce handsome ﬁgures. In the burls of old mature trees the bird’s-eye effect on a glossy jet black to lighter shades of brown is frequently found. The wood ﬁnishes to a pleasing velvety sheen, glues satisfactorily, and polishes exceptionally well with all types of paint, stain, wax or other ﬁnishingmaterials. It holds its shape, and after being seasoned, shrinks or swells very little.
Black Walnut Curly and Fiddle Back Figure

Pg. 102 Schoonover American Woods
Uses
Black Walnut is superior to all other woods for gun stocks because it keeps its shape, is comparatively light in weight, and absorbs recoil the best of all woods. The most important use of the lumber and of the beautiful ﬁgured veneers is in furniture, radio and television cabinets, sewing machines, wooden novelties and general mill-work. It is an especially desirable wood to work with all kinds of tools, and is a favorite wood in all Home Work Shops and Manual Training Schools. Walnut wood is so valuable that it is mainly cut into veneers. It is No.1 on the wood list of every woodworking shop.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

1,335 views

John Morris

December 9, 20241 yr

Sugar Pine

The Tree
The eminent forester G. H. Collingwood makes the statement that Sugar Pine is the largest, the tallest and the most magniﬁcent of all the pines. This king of pines reaches a height of 245 feet and diameters of from 12 to 18 feet. Commonly, however, the tree is 160 to 180 feet tall and 4 to 7 feet in diameter. The world’s largest pine at Umpana, Oregon, is 245 feet high and 18 feet 4 inches in diameter. The Sugar Pine has a magniﬁcent straight trunk only slightly tapering and without limbs for from 60 to 80 feet. The limbs are sturdy and gracefully curved. The needles are blue-green with a whitish tinge, ﬁve in a bundle, 2% to 4 inches long, somewhat twisted but stiff and strong. The purplish-brown cones, which later turn to a lustrous chestnut-brown, are 12 to 18 inches long, and 4 to 6 inches in diameter when open. They remain on the tree for two or three years and are the longest cones of all the pines. The bark is thick, two to three inches, broken by long irregular furrows and covered with fairly large scales of cinnamon, red or purple-brown color on mature trees. The tree is found in deep moist sandy loam soil at elevations of 1000 to 9000 feet. It requires considerable moisture. When well established, the Sugar Pine resists forest ﬁre damage like the Pitch Pine of the southeastern states, but it is affected by mistletoe growths and White Pine Blister Rust disease.

Common Names in Use
Sugar Pine (Calif., Oreg.)
Big Pine
California Sugar Pine (Calif., lit.)
Gigantic Pine (Calif., lit.)
Great Sugar Pine
Little Sugar Pine
Purple-coned Sugar Pine (Calif., lit.)
Shade Pine (Calif.)
Female Sugar Pine Cones

Sugar Pine Cones, old open seed cones

Growth Range
The growth range of Sugar Pine extends from the Coast and Cascade mountain regions of southern Oregon along the western slopes of the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevadas of California into Lower California in Mexico. The heaviest stands and largest trees are found in northern California on the west slope of the Sierra Nevadas at elevations from 4,000 to 7,000 feet.

The Wood
The heartwood of Sugar Pine is light creamy-tan or buff to pale reddish-brown, much lighter in color than the Eastern and Western White Pines. It is, however, frequently discolored with sap stain. The sapwood is medium wide and a creamy-white color. The wood is straight and even-grained, moderately soft, not stiff, relatively coarse but uniform in texture, pleasantly fragrant, non-porus with numerous, conspicuous, small resin ducts which give it a distinctive ﬁgure on ﬂat—grain surfaces. When freshly cut small quantities of a sugary gum are exuded. It is easily seasoned without warping or checking, easily worked with tools, glues and holds paint well, does not easily split when nailed, and stays in place very well.
Pinus Lambertiana Dougl. by Romeyn B. Hough

Uses
This wood ranks very well with the beautiful White Pines in hundreds of uses, although it is coarser textured. It is one of our ﬁnest pines for pattern making because of the increasing scarcity of Northern White Pine, sash, doors, interior and exterior trim, siding, furniture, cabinets, chests, boxes, crates, musical instruments, scientific instruments, shade and map rollers, signs, toys, ship and general construction work.

Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

1,167 views

John Morris

May 8, 20251 yr

Pinyon Pine

The Tree
The Pinyon Pine (pronounced Pin-yone) is the nut tree of the Southwest. It clings to canyon sides and mountain slopes at elevations from 5,000 to 9,000 feet. It is a hardy hard scraggy pine and is one of the four nut pines in the southwest states. It is a small un-shapely tree 15 to 50 feet tall and 12 to 80 inches in diameter. The sharp pointed needles are a dark yellowish green and grow in pairs. The egg-shaped cones form on the ends of the branches. They are a shiny yellowish brown from one to two inches long, each bearing from 2 to 80 large reddish mottled brown seed-nuts. These nuts, which are about the size of a small navy bean, are the largest of the pine nuts and are edible and delicious. The Indians and Mexicans relish them particularly, and they have had a commercial demand as a nut delicacy. The nuts are usually baked soon after being gathered so as to retain their rich ﬂavor.

Pinyon Pine cones

Pinyon Pine tree bark

Common Names in Use
Pinyon (Tex., Colo.)
Pinon Pine (Colo.)
New Mexican Pinon (lit)
Pitch Pine (Utah.)
Nut Pine (Tex., Colo.)
Scrub Pine (Colo.)
Growth Range
The growth range of Pinyon Pine extends from southwestern Wyoming southward through Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico into northern Mexico, and southwestern Texas. Usually this tree is found in open stands and scattered groves along mountain slopes and canyon sides at elevations of from 5000 to 8000 feet.

The Wood
The wood is moderately soft, with resin ducts well scattered, appearing as tiny specks. The heartwood is a pale creamy brown-tan frequently with a slight reddish tinge while the sap-wood is relatively wide and somewhat lighter in color. Because of the many limbs it is usually knotty, is a little cross-grained and does not split easily. It is not easily nailed, but holds nails and screws well. When properly seasoned the wood stays in place well and shrinks very little.
Pinyon Pine Lumber

Uses
This pine is used locally in Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico for fence posts, telephone poles, mine logging, charcoal and general construction. It is different in texture from other yellow pines with which it is sometimes confused.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

701 views

John Morris

May 13, 2025May 13

Red Pine

The Tree
The Red Pine is a medium sized pine 60 to 80 feet high and 2 to 8 feet in diameter. It is characterized by its long, straight, clean trunk and reddish-brown ﬂaky or scaly bark. The crown is usually well rounded and symmetrical. The dark green, glossy needles 4 to 6 inches long, are borne in pairs clustered near the ends of the branches, and remain on the tree four or ﬁve years. The spineless cones are comparatively small and very compact. Throughout the Great Lakes region, as the supply of Eastern White Pine is gradually depleted, the Red Pine is being heavily
planted because of its disease resistance and desirable lumber qualities. It grows rapidly, reproduces easily from seed and is a beautiful sturdy tree. Unfortunately, it has long been known as Norway Pine although it is a native American species and not imported from Norway. Very probably Norway Pine was so named because large stands of this tree were found near the Village of Norway, Maine.

Common Names in Use
Norway Pine (trade)
Pig Iron Pine (Minn.)
Canadian Pine(Eng., trade)
Pitch Pine (Can.)
Canadian Red Pine (Eng.)
Pig Iron Norway (Me.,Minn.)
Hard Pine (Wis., Me., trade)
Quebec Pine (Eng., trade)
Norway (trade)
Red Deal (Eng., trade)
Norway Pine (Me., N.H., Vt., Mass., N.Y., Wis., Mich., Minn., Ontario., hort. and trade)
Red Pine (Vt., N.H., N.Y., Wis., Minn., Ontario., hort. and trade)
Shellbark Norway (Minn.)
Northern Pine (trade)
Yellow Deal (Eng., trade)
Growth Range
The growth range of Red Pine is from Minnesota and adjacent parts of southern Canada, through Wisconsin, Michigan, the northeast corner of Ohio eastward through Pennsylvania and the northeastern states. Scattered groves may be found as far southward as West Virginia.
The Wood
Red Pine heartwood is a pale very light red orange brown or light pinkish tan, while the sapwood is moderately wide and a creamy light yellow or nearly white color. The wood is straight-grained, medium-textured, moderately soft, non-porous, and heavier than White Pine. Distinctive rings give it a slight ﬁgure. It has small resin ducts, is strong, rather stiff and has a prominent resinous odor. It is easily worked with tools and has an “oily” feel in handling. The wood nails easily without splitting and stays in place with little shrinkage when properly seasoned.

The Wood
Red Pine heartwood is a pale very light red orange brown or light pinkish tan, while the sapwood is moderately wide and a creamy light yellow or nearly white color. The wood is straight-grained, medium-textured, moderately soft, non-porous, and heavier than White Pine. Distinctive rings give it a slight ﬁgure. It has small resin ducts, is strong, rather stiff and has a prominent resinous odor. It is easily worked with tools and has an “oily” feel in handling. The wood nails easily without splitting and stays in place with little shrinkage when properly seasoned.
Red Pine wood

Uses
This wood is commercially important for sash, doors, ﬂooring, interior and exterior trim, cabin logs, hewed and sawed railroad ties, ship construction, general millwork and general construction, box car construction, agricultural implements, wooden ware, toys and other uses similar to Eastern White Pine. It is also used for “knotty pine” ﬁnishing and for paper pulp.
Red Pine flooring

Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

297 views

John Morris

January 23Jan 23

Ponderosa Pine

The Tree
This stately monarch of the forest attains a height of 125 to 280 feet and a diameter of from three to seven feet. It grows in open stands or clean “parks” in the higher mountain elevations of the west. It is a beautiful pine with a high massive trunk conspicuous by the light yellowish-brown to cinnamon-red scaly bark on the old mature trees. On the young trees the bark is lightly furrowed into smaller scales and is of a dark blackish-brown color. The cones are three to six inches long and two to three inches in diameter. The gray-green to deep yellow-green needles ﬁve to ten inches long, borne mostly in bundles of three, form clusters at the branch tips, within which the cones form. The limbs are large and staunch. The tree is hardy, requires deep rich soil and considerable moisture, and is usually found on mountain slopes at elevations of from 4000 to 12,000 feet. It is seriously damaged by forest ﬁres. Over-grazing also damages the seedlings and young trees. It is attacked by bark beetles and a defoliation insect known as “pine butterﬂy,” and mistletoe appears to thrive on it in some localities. This tree was long commonly known as Bull Pine and Big Pine because of its stately size; Black Jack Pine because of the dark bark of the younger trees; Yellow Pine because of the yellowish color of the mature trunks; and Ponderosa Pine because of its ponderous bulk, which name is now its Official common name.
It is the recognized but unofﬁcial State tree of Montana.

Common Names in Use
Ponderosa Pine (trade)
Oregon Pine (trade)
Arizona Soft Pine (trade)
Oregon White Pine (trade)
Arizona White Pine (trade)
Pitch Pine
Big Pine (Mont.)
Ponderosa Pine (trade)
Bull Pine (Calif., Wash., Utah., Red Pine Idaho, Oreg., Colo.)
Rocky Mountain Yellow Pine (lit.)
California WhitePine (trade)
Foothills Yellow Pine
“Gambler Parry’s Pine” (Eng., lit.)
Heavy Pine (Calif.)
Heavy-wooded Pine (Eng.)
Sierra Brownbark Pine (lit.)
Western Pine (trade)
Western Pitch Pine
Western Soft Pine (trade)
Western White Pine (trade)
Ponderosa Pine cone

Stately Ponderosa Pine

Growth Range
Ponderosa Pine grows in quite open park-like stands from British Columbia southward into northern Mexico and from the Rocky Mountains of Montana to western Texas. It is found in every State west of the Great Plains, on well-drained slopes up to elevations of 12,000 feet.
The Wood
Ponderosa Pine wood varies considerably in texture, resin content and color, depending upon location and forest environment. It is strong, moderately hard, ﬁne straight-grained, light in weight, not stiff, very uniform but somewhat coarse in texture and more or less resinous. The heartwood is light yellowish tan-red to reddish Or orange-brown with a moderately wide sapwood of pale yellow to nearly white. It is easily glued and worked with tools and takes a good ﬁnish. The wood stays in place with little shrinkage when well seasoned.
Uses
This pine provides high grade lumber in great quantity for general use ranging from high quality mill work and cabinet work to rough construction; sash, doors, mouldings, blinds, interior trim, paneling, boxes, fruit crates, caskets, furniture, ﬁxtures, toys, dairy and poultry supplies, pattern making and many other important uses of softwoods, ranking high with the White Pines in this respect.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

1,993 views

John Morris

February 1Feb 1

English Walnut

The Tree
The English Walnut was imported from Persia and extensively planted for nut production. Several excellent varieties have been developed to produce large soft-shelled, sweet-meated nuts. It is not a large tree, attaining a height of only 50 feet and a trunk diameter of 8 to 20 inches. The trunk is short, and the branches spread gracefully to give the tree a wide crown and symmetrical shape. The leaves and young twigs when crushed give off a pungent aromatic odor. The bark of young trees is smooth and ashy-white or silver-gray in color, while the bark of the old mature trees is a dark muddy-brown, ridged and furrowed, having characteristics somewhat similar to the Black Walnut of the eastern States. The shell of the nut is shallowly and irregularly grooved, separating easily into halves from which the large delicious kernel is easily extracted. This nut is a favorite delicacy throughout the country, and walnut culture has grown to very large economic proportions. The tree is cultivated in groves, but is a favorite tree in the home orchard as well. It is a rapid-growing and rather short lived tree.
English Walnut foliage

English Walnut pod

English Walnut tree bark

Growth Range
As a cultivated nut tree, the English Walnut is found along the Paciﬁc Coast from Washington to Lower California. It is perhaps at its best in Ventura County, in southern California. Another species, the California Walnut, is a low tree usually branching at or near the base into several trunks. It is found only in coastal southern California in the foothills and valleys.

The Wood
The wood of English Walnut is moderately coarse grained, frequently cross-grained with a beautiful ﬁgure, rich in color. It is heavy, not especially strong, rather tough and irregular in texture. The heartwood is a grayish-brown, much lighter in color than the Black Walnut and more the color of Butternut. The sapwood is rather narrow and a pale cream color. Only short lumber is available because of the short, stubby trunk but beautiful burl veneers are produced, and many very pleasing ﬁgures are found in the sawed lumber.
English Walnut slab

Uses
English Walnut is far more valuable for its nuts than for wood. The wood is of little if any commercial importance except for veneers, for which it is available in only limited quantities. The wood is used also to a limited extent for novelties and cabinet work because of its good working qualities and handsome color.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

270 views

John Morris

February 20Feb 20

Lodgepole Pine

The Tree
The Lodgepole Pine is a straight tree from 60 to 150 feet tall and 12 to 86 inches in diameter, and grows from low elevations in the north up to 11,500 feet in the south. It is typically a Northern Rocky Mountain pine. For a long time this tree was rated very low as a timber tree because of its knotty lumber and the rather poor quality of the wood. It grows in dense stands of tall straight trees. The bark is a quarter of an inch thick, a pale brown or grayish color with many thin irregular scales. The bright yellowish-green needles, usually about two inches long, grow in pairs.
The shiny light yellowish-brown to dark brown cones up to two inches long, frequently grow in clusters. The cone scales have a sharp prickle. Some of the cones open at maturity, while others remain on the tree for several years before opening to release the seed. Because of the dense stands of the tree, serious damage is done to it by forest fires. The tree also suffers great damage from mistletoe and fungi, bark beetles, and porcupines.

Common Names in Use
Lodgepole Pine (Wyo., Wash., Mont., Idaho., Colo.)
Prickly Pine (Utah)
Sand Pine (Oreg)
Birdseye Pine (Idaho., Wyo.)
Scrub Pine
Black Pine (Wyo., Mont.)
Shore Pine (lit)
Bolander’s Pine
Spruce Pine (Colo., Idaho., Mont.)
Henderson’s Pine
Tamarack Pine (Calif., Wash.)
Jack Pine (Colo.)
Tamarack (Wyo., Utah., Mont., Calif., and trade)
Knotty Pine
Murray Pine (Calif., lit.)
Twisted Pine (Eastern States)
North Coast Scrub Pine (Calif., lit.)
White Pine (Mont., Colo.)
Fox Tail Pine (left), Lodgepole Pine (right)

Lodgepole Pine Cone

Growth Range
The growth range of Lodgepole Pine is from southern Alaska, western Canada southward through Washington, Oregon and California and eastward into most of the Rocky Mountain region as far south as New Mexico and northern Utah.

The Wood
The heartwood varies in color from a light yellow to a creamy yellowish light brown-tan sometimes having a reddish tinge, while the sapwood is narrow and nearly white. The wood is moderately hard, stiff, straight grained, medium ﬁne-textured, and brittle. It contains numerous ﬁne resin ducts which exude resin. It is easy to work, glues well and holds paint reasonably well. The tangential surfaces frequently have a “dimpled” or pebbled appearance resembling “bird’s-eye” because of which it is sometimes called Bird’s-eye Pine.
Lodgepole Pine wood

Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

Image Citations

183 views

John Morris

February 20Feb 20

Loblolly Pine

The Tree
The Loblolly Pine is also known as a Southern Yellow Pine and one of the four commercially important pines of the deep southeast. It is found in low moist sites called “loblollies” from which the tree derives its name. It is a tall erect tree 60 to 125 feet high and one and a half to five feet in diameter and not heavily limbed. The bark is moderately thin, deeply furrowed, broken by large long scales, and is cinnamon or red-brown in color. The slender, stiff, sharp, pointed needles are ﬁve to nine inches long, three in a bundle, and a pale green color. The spiny reddish-brown cones which mature in two years are three to six inches long, and form in crowded clusters. The tree grows rapidly, is not easily killed by forest ﬁres, mainly because it has a thick bark and usually grows in low damp soils. It does, however, suffer greatly from the attacks of pine sawyer, the Southern Pine Bark beetle and bud moth.
Loblolly Pine bark

Loblolly Pine cone

Common Names in Use
Loblolly Pine (Del., Va., N.C., S.C.,Ga., Ala., Fla., Miss., La., Tex., Ark.)
Foxtail Pine (Va., Md.)
Frankincense Pine (lit)
Heart Pine (N.C.)
Arkansas Pine (Trade)
Indian Pine (Va., N.C.)
Bastard Pine (Va., N.C.)
Lobby Pine (Va.)
Black Pine (Va., N.C., Ga.)
Longleaf Pine (Md., Va., N.C.)
Bog Pine (N.C.)
Black Slash Pine (S.C.)
Longschat Pine (Del.)
Buckskin Pine (La., Miss.)
Longshucks (Md., Va.)
Bull Pine (Tex. and Gulf region, Md., Ark.)
Old Field Pine (most southern states)
Cornstalk Pine (Va.)
Shortleaf Pine (Va, N.C., S.C., La.)
Longstraw Pine (Va., N.C. in part)
Maiden Pine (N.C.)
Shortstraw Pine
Meadow Pine (Fla)
Slash Pine (Va., N.C. in part)
North Carolina Pine (trade)
Southern Pine (trade)
Oldﬁeld Pine (Del.,Va., N.C., S.C., Ala., Fla., Miss., La., Ark.)
Spruce Pine (Va. in part)
Torch Pine (Eng., lit.)
Swamp Pine (Va., N.C.)
Prop Pine (Mt., Va.)
Virginia Pine (trade)
Rosemary Pine (Va., N.C. in part)
Sap Pine (eastern trade)
Sap Pine (Va., N.C.)
Yellow Pine (north Ala., N.C., Ark.)
Growth Range
The growth range of Loblolly Pine extends along the Atlantic coastal plain from southern Delaware southward to the northern half of Florida, and westward to eastern Texas and southern Arkansas.
The Wood
The wood of Loblolly Pine is resinous, non-porous, strong, moderately hard, medium heavy, stiff and straight or cross grained, uneven texture, and has distinct growth rings. The heart-wood is a light-tan or yellowish-brown,while the sapwood is three to ﬁve inches wide and a creamy-white. The wood works rather hard with tools, not easily nailed but holds nails and screws well.
Uses
Large quantities of this species are now used for paper pulp. It is an important lumber tree, the wood being used for all types of general construction, interior ﬁnish, box shooks, basket veneer, boxes, tobacco hogsheads, cooperage, mine timbers, ties and poles for which use a creosote treatment is given. It is also used for making charcoal. It does not produce sufficient resin for naval stores, although the wood is rich in resin ducts.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

File Attribution

159 views

John Morris

February 27Feb 27

Pitch Pine

The Tree
Pitch Pine is one of the smaller hard pines, attaining a height of 40 to 70 feet with a trunk diameter of from 12 to 30 inches.
Usually it is quite symmetrical, its limb structure and crown resembling a hardwood rather than the straight-stemmed pines. Frequently the branches are contorted, irregular and heavy. The bark on mature trees is one to one and a half inches thick, dark reddish-brownand deeply furrowed into irregular thick scales. The needles are stiff, sharply pointed and wide, two to ﬁve inches long in bundles of three and are of a yellowish-green color. The cones which remain on the tree for several years are one and a half to three inches long with wide base, thick scales, prickly pointed. The tree is exceedingly ﬁre resistant although it contains a considerable supply of pitch, which gives the tree its name.
Common Names in Use
Pitch Pine (Vt, N.H., Mass., R.I., Conn., N.Y., N.J., Pa., Del., W.Va., N.C., S.C., Ga., Ohio, Ontario, Md., Eng.)
Black Pine (N.C.)
Black Norway Pine (N.Y.)
Hard Pine (Mass.)
Long-leaf Pine (Del.)
Longschat Pine (Del.)
Mountain Pine (N.C.)
Pennsylvania Yellow Pine (Pa.)
Red Pine (N.Y.)
Ridge Pine (N.C.)
Rigid Pine (Eng., lit.)
Sap Pine (lit)
Shortleaf Pine (Ga.)
Southern Pine (Trade)
Southern Yellow Pine
Yellow Pine (Pa., Ga.)
Pitch Pine bark

Pitch Pine cone

Growth Range
The growth range of Pitch Pine extends from Maine southward along the slopes of the Allegheny Mountains to northern Georgia, and westward from New York to the eastern Great Lakes region, thence southward through eastern Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Wood
The wood of the Pitch Pine has a very high resin content, is coarse-grained, soft, non-porous, brittle, and has a reddish-yellow heartwood. The sapwood is wide, light yellow or nearly white in color and is very susceptible to blue stain in seasoning.
Uses
The lumber of the Pitch Pine is usually marketed with the other pines, particularly the southern pines. It is used for rough general construction, fencing, paper pulp, boxes, crating, railroad ties and other general uses. It is somewhat “gummy” to work with because of the heavy pitch content, but takes paint well.
Pitch Pine flooring

Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

File Attributions
The Tree
File:2013-05-12 11 23 41 Pitch Pine Trees and View West From the Hoeferlin Trail in Ramapo Mountain State Forest in New Jersey.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. 12 May 2013, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2013-05-12_11_23_41_Pitch_Pine_trees_and_view_west_from_the_Hoeferlin_Trail_in_Ramapo_Mountain_State_Forest_in_New_Jersey.jpg#Licensing.

Pitch Pine Cone
Attribution: By Crusier [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinus_rigida_cone_Poland.jpg

Pitch Pine bark
A native of eastern North America, the pitch pine is a species designed for fire. It can be burned to the ground in a forest fire and still sprout new growth from its roots and stump. The wood contains a lot of resin, or 'pitch', making it both rot resistant and flammable. In the past, it was used to make torches, tar and turpentine, as well as in ship building.

195 views

John Morris

February 27Feb 27

Virginia Pine

The Tree
Virginia Pine is a tree similar in shape to Jack Pine with long branches, more or less ragged, and a ﬂat straggly open top with usually a comparatively short trunk. Generally the tree is 40 to 50 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 12 to 18 inches, but larger individual trees are also found. The needles are two per bundle one and a half to three inches long, stiff, sharply pointed, twisted, a grayish green color, and distributed well over the long smooth branches. The cones mature in two seasons, are 2 to 3 inches long growing closely to the twig. These cones have slender scales and sharp spines or prickles. The dark brown bark of this pine is one-quarter to one-half inch thick with shallow furrows forming rather small scales.
Common Names in Use
Virginia Pine (Md.,Va., N.C., trade)
Alligator Pine (N.C.)
Black Pine (Ga)
Cedar Pine (N.C.)
Hickory Pine (N.C.)
Jersey Pine (N.I., Pa., Del., N.C., S.C.)
New Jersey Pine (lit.)
Nigger Pine (Tenn,, Ga.)
North Carolina Pine (N.C.)
Poverty Pine
River Pine (N.C.)
Scrub Pine (R.I., N.Y., Pa., Del., N.C., S.C., Ohio)
Shortschat Pine (Del.)
Shortleaved (N. C.)
Spruce (Ga.)
Spruce Pine (N.I., Md., Va., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Ala.)
Virginia Pine Pollen Cone

Virginia Pine Tree Bark

Growth Range
The growth range of Virginia Pine extends from Long Island and the south half of Pennsylvania southward to central Georgia and westward across the Allegheny Mountains to southern Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, central Alabama, and northeastern Mississippi.
The Wood
The heartwood of the Vinginia Pine is a light orange to yellow-tan, soft, light, coarse-grained, brittle and generally quite knotty. It is non-porous and considerably resinous.
Uses
This pine, although containing considerable resin, is increasingly used for paper pulp, mine props, piling, railroad ties and lumber for general construction. Tar and charcoal are also made from it.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

File Attribution
Virginia Pine Head Image
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_strand_of_adult_Virginia_pine_(Pinus_virginiana)_trees_in_Pennsylvania.jpg
Attribution: SusquehannaMan, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Tree
Open-grown tree along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina [C.J. Earle, 2004.10.26]. Reference: Pinus Virginiana (Virginia Pine) Description. https://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_virginiana.php. Accessed 5 Aug. 2018.

Virginia Pine Pollen Cone
Pinus virginiana (Virginia Pine) new growth and pollen cones along the Mount Misery Trail in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, New Jersey
Attribution: By Famartin [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2013-05-10_10_32_15_Virginia_Pine_new_growth_and_pollen_cones_along_the_Mount_Misery_Trail_in_Brendan_T._Byrne_State_Forest,_New_Jersey.jpg

Virginia Pine Tree Bark
Photograph of the trunk bark of the Scrub Pineen (Pinus virginiana en ). Photo taken at the Tyler Arboretum where it was identified.
Attribution: By Photo (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)], from Wikimedia Commons
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scrub_Pine_Pinus_virginiana_Trunk_Bark_2000px.jpg

186 views

John Morris

February 28Feb 28

Shortleaf Pine

The Tree
Shortleaf Pine is one of the four most important hard pines of the southeastern states. It resembles Ponderosa Pine because of its cinnamon-red or yellow-tinged bark broken by large scales and character of the wood. It is, however, a much smaller tree attaining heights of from 80 to 100 feet and diameters from two to three feet. It has long sturdy limbs, and a high clear slightly tapering trunk. The needles are blue-green, slender, three to ﬁve inches long and grow in bundles of two or three which remain on the tree two to ﬁve years. The prickly egg-shaped cones are a dull brown and only one and a half to two inches long, the smallest of any of the southern pines. A peculiarity of this species is the ability of the younger trees to put forth sprouts from the stump. The tree suffers greatly from forest ﬁre damage, is very susceptible to “Bed Heart” and other fungus diseases, attack of the Southern Pine beetle, the pine sawyer, and Nantucket tip moth. However, the tree grows rapidly and ﬁnds favor for ornamental purposes. The Pine is the official State tree of Arkansas, but no particular species is stated. The Shortleaf Pine is a prominent tree growing in that State.
Common Names in Use
Shortleaf Pine (Va., Md., Ga., trade)
Arkansas Shortleaf Pine (trade)
Arkansas Soft Pine (trade)
Bull Pine (Va.)
Carolina Pine (N.C. and Va. in part)
Forest Pine (N.C.)
North Carolina Pine (N.C. and Va. in part; trade)
North Carolina Yellow Pine (N.C. and Va. in part)
Oldﬁeld Pine (N.C., Ala., Miss.)
Pitch Pine (Mo.)
Poor Pine (Fla.)
Rosemary (La., Tex.)
Rosemary Pine and Rosemary Shortleaf (N.C.)
Shortleaved Pine (N.C., S.C., Ga., Ala., Miss., Fla., La., Tex., Ark.)
Shortleaved Yellow Pine (trade)
Shortschat Pine (Del.)
Southern Yellow Pine (trade)
Spruce Pine (Del., Miss., Ark.)
Virginia Yellow Pine (Va. in part)
Yellow Pine (N.Y., N.J., Pa., Del., Va., N.C., Ala., Miss., La., Ark., Ma., Ill., Ind.)
Shortleaft Pine Tree Bark

Shortleaf Pine Cones

Growth Range
The Shortleaf Pine is found from Long Island southward to northern Florida, throughout most of the southeastern States, westward through the eastern half of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, in the southern section of Missouri and the eastern section of Oklahoma and Texas.

The Wood
The wood is moderately hard, stiff, strong, non-porous, and has a straight prominent grain with an attractive ﬁgure for a pine. The heartwood varies in shades of orange and yellow to reddish light brown in which the growth rings show very prominently with narrow sapwood of nearly white to yellowish or orange-white. It is one of the “hard” pines and somewhat difﬁcult to distinguish from other southern pines. In common with all the pines it is easily worked with tools but the Shortleaf Pine has a rather exceptional pine ﬁgure depending upon the type of cut. It has little resin content. The wood holds nails and screws reasonably well, but shrinks a little more than the northern pines.
Uses
Shortleaf Pine is used extensively in building construction, sash, doors, frames, interior and exterior trim, “knotty pine” ﬁnishing, weather-boarding, wainscoting, boxes, crates, excelsior, agricultural implements, some grades of furniture, cooperage stock, caskets, woodenware, toys, and to some extent for carving and general carpentry purposes. It is also used for paper pulp and, when creosoted,for poles.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA

File Attributions

311 views

John Morris

April 19Apr 19

The American Woods Project

The Softwoods (Conifers)

The Hobby of Woodworking

Eastern White Pine

Tree Names

State Trees

How a Tree Grows

Cross - Section of Tree Trunk

Seasoning of Wood

Methods of Cutting Logs Into Lumber and Veneers

The Hardwoods (Broadleafs)

Grains and Figures in Wood

Butternut

Western White Pine

Black Walnut

Sugar Pine

Pinyon Pine

Red Pine

Ponderosa Pine

English Walnut

Lodgepole Pine

Loblolly Pine

Pitch Pine

Virginia Pine

Shortleaf Pine

Wood

Account

Navigation

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)

Chrome (Desktop)

Safari (iOS 16.4+)

Safari (macOS)

Edge (Android)

Edge (Desktop)

Firefox (Android)

Firefox (Desktop)