Abstract This report describes 53 taxa of hardwoods of North America, which are organized alphabeti- cally by genus. Descriptions include scientific name, trade name, distribution, tree character- istics, wood characteristics (general, weight, mechanical properties, drying, shrinkage, working properties, durability, preservation, toxicity and uses) and additional sources for information. Data were compiled from existing literature, mostly from research done at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI. Acknowledgments Sincere thanks to the staff of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, for their aid in the preparation of this work. Special thanks to David Green, David Kretschmann, Denise Stoker and Jerrold Winandy of the Engineering Properties of Wood Group, and John Dramm, of State and Private Forestry, Forest Products Labora- tory, for their support and encouragement, and to Mary Collet, Lenny J. Dyer, and Noreen Esser, of the Publishing Center, Forest Products Laboratory, for editing and production of this report. This book is dedicated to the memory of Martin Chudnoff. September 1995 Alden, Harry A. 1995. Hardwoods of North America. Gen. Tech. Rep. FPL–GTR–83. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 136 p. A limited number of free copies of this publication are available to the public from the Forest Products Laboratory, One Gifford Pinchot Drive, Madison, WI 53705–2398. Laboratory publications are sent to more than 1,000 libraries in the United States and elsewhere. The Forest Products Laboratory is maintained in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service is a diverse organization committed to equal opportunity in employment and program delivery. USDA prohibits discrimina- tion on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political affilia- tion, and familial status. Persons believing they have been discriminated against should contact the Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, or call (202) 720–7327 (voice), or (202) 720–1127 (TTY). Contents Introduction..........................................................................................................1 Acer negundo........................................................................................................4 Acer spp. .............................................................................................................6 Aesculus octandra ................................................................................................10 Ailanthus altissima..............................................................................................12 Alnus rubra ........................................................................................................13 Amelanchier spp..................................................................................................15 Arbutus spp........................................................................................................17 Avicennia spp.....................................................................................................19 Betula spp..........................................................................................................20 Carpinus caroliniana.............................................................................................25 Carya spp...........................................................................................................27 Castanea dentata ..................................................................................................33 Castanopsis chrysophylla.....................................................................................35 Catalpa spp. .......................................................................................................37 Celtis spp. .........................................................................................................38 Conocarpus erectus ..............................................................................................40 Cornus florida.....................................................................................................42 Fagus grandifolia.................................................................................................46 Fraxinus spp.......................................................................................................48 Gleditsia triacanthos.............................................................................................52 Gymnocladus dioicus............................................................................................53 Halesia spp.........................................................................................................55 Hamamelis virginiana...........................................................................................56 Ilex spp. ............................................................................................................58 Juglans cinerea....................................................................................................60 Juglans nigra ......................................................................................................61 Kalmia latifolia...................................................................................................63 Liquidambar styraciflua.........................................................................................65 Liriodendron tulipifera ..........................................................................................66 Lithocarpus densiflorus........................................................................................68 Maclura pomifera.................................................................................................70 Magnolia spp......................................................................................................72 Magnolia virginiana.............................................................................................75 Malus sylvestris..................................................................................................76 Nyssa spp. .........................................................................................................78 Ostrya spp..........................................................................................................81 Oxydendrum arboreum.........................................................................................82 Platanus occidentalis ............................................................................................84 Populus spp. ......................................................................................................86 Populus grandidentata...........................................................................................86 Populus tremuloides.............................................................................................86 Populus spp. ......................................................................................................88 Prosopis spp.......................................................................................................91 Prunus serotina ...................................................................................................97 Quercus spp........................................................................................................98 Rhamnus spp.................................................................................................... 107 Rhus spp. ........................................................................................................ 109 Robinia pseudoacacia.......................................................................................... 111 Salix nigra ....................................................................................................... 113 Sambucus spp................................................................................................... 114 Sassafras albidum .............................................................................................. 116 Tilia americana.................................................................................................. 118 Ulmus spp. ...................................................................................................... 120 Umbellularia californica...................................................................................... 123 References........................................................................................................ 125 Glossary .......................................................................................................... 130 Appendix —Trade Name Index ............................................................................. 136 Hardwoods of North America Harry A. Alden, Botanist Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin Introduction Every week, the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) receives numerous calls from the public and industry inquiring about wood, especially concerning properties and common names. Much information has been accumulated at FPL in loose-leaf files; the information for a particular wood has been derived from many different sources over many years. Responding to technology transfer requests has required searching these files and copying selected pages