A LABORATORY MANUAL FOR FP 4013/6013 WOOD ANATOMY H. M. Barnes, Professor Department of Forest Products College of Forest Resources MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY © August 2004 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents..................................................1 Species ..............................................................2 Textbooks, Equipment, Items of Interest......................3 Exercise 1 ...........................................................4 Exercise 2 ...........................................................7 Exercise 3 ...........................................................9 Exercise 4 ......................................................... 10 Exercise 5 ......................................................... 11 Exercise 6 ......................................................... 12 Exercise 7 ......................................................... 14 Exercise 8 ......................................................... 15 Exercise 9 ......................................................... 16 Exercise 10........................................................ 17 Exercise 11.........................................................18 What's Possible With Wood Identification? .................. 19 Wood Identification Keys For Hand Lenses .................. 28 1 SPECIES (fill in blanks) Block # Common name Scientific name Family Softwoods (Gymnosperms) 1 Eastern white pine Pinus strobus 2 Red pine 3 Southern pine Pinus palustris spp. 4 Ponderosa pine Pinus ponderosa 5 Eastern spruce Picea spp. Sitka spruce Picea sitchensis 6 Western larch 7 Douglas-fir Pseudotsuga menziesii 8 Eastern hemlock Tsuga canadensis 9 Redwood Sequoia sempervirens 10 Baldcypress Taxoidium distichum 11 True fir Abies spp 12 Alaska-cedar 12a Northern white-cedar Chamaecyparis occidentalis 13 Incense-cedar Calocedrus decurrens 14 Western redcedar Thuja plicata 15 Eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana 16 Atlantic white-cedar Chamaecyparis thyoides 17 Port-Orford-cedar 18 Pacific yew Taxus brevifolia Hardwoods (Angiosperms) 19 Red oak Quercus rubra spp. 20 White oak Quercus alba spp. 21 Ash Fraxinus americana, F. (White, green, Oregon) pennsylvanica, F. latifolia 22 Sassafras Sassafras albidum 23 Honeylocust 24 American elm Ulmus americana 24a Slippery elm Ulmus rubra 25 Hard elm Ulmus alata, U. crassifolia, U. thomasii 26 Osage-orange Maclura pomifera 27 Black locust 28 Red mulberry Morus rubra 29 Hackberry Celtis occidentalis spp. 30 Blackgum Nyssa sylvatica 31 Black cherry Prunus serotina 32 Black walnut Juglans nigra 32a Butternut Juglans cinerea 33 Willow Salix nigra 34 Persimmon Diospyros virginia 35 Hickory Carya spp. 36 Cottonwood Populus deltoides 37 American beech 38 Sycamore, American planetree Platanus occidentalis 39 Hard maple (sugar, black maple) Acer saccharum, A. nigrum 2 40 Soft maple (red, silver maple) Acer rubum, A. saccharinum 41 Yellow-poplar Liriodendron tulipifera 42 Basswood Tilia americana 43 Sweetgum, redgum Liquidambar styraciflua* 44 Birch Betula spp. 45 Red alder Alnus rubra 46 Dogwood Cornus florida 47 Aspen Populus tremuloides 48 Magnolia Magnolia grandiflora 49 Chestnut 50 Pecan Carya illinoensis A. Textbooks: Textbook of Wood Technology, 4th Edition; Identifying Wood NOTE: This laboratory manual will be needed during each laboratory session. You MUST have the laboratory manual, laboratory notebook, and textbooks every lab period! B. Equipment: (1) Utility knife (2) Single edge razor blades (3) Hand lens (MUST be 10-16X) (4) Good quality, small paint brush (5) Tweezers and probe (6) Small ruler/straight edge (7) A bound lab notebook C. Items of interest (1) Drawing is required for the laboratory exercises, but exams may also require artistic ability - be prepared. (2) All underlined subject matter in the laboratory manual will require instructor approval upon completion. Data from your laboratory manuals should be put into your lab notebooks and will be checked periodically. (3) There will be a short QUIZ during most laboratory sessions covering material from the previous exercises. (4) Assignments will NOT be accepted late. 3 EXERCISE 1 MICROSCOPE CALIBRATION AND PRINCIPAL WOOD PLANES Objectives: To become familiar with the operation of your microscope; to determine the operating parameters of your microscope; to become familiar with the principal planes of a block of wood. A. MICROSCOPE CALIBRATION 1. Magnification. Magnification of an objective lens depends upon the working distance of the objective and the tube length of a microscope. The working distance of the objective lens (focal length of objective lens) is the distance between the objectives lens and the object when the microscope is in focus. For practical purposes, the magnification of an objective lens may be obtained from the formula: objective lens magnification = microscope tube length objective lens focal length Your microscope is equipped with objective lenses having working distance of 4, 8 and 16 millimeters. The common tube length of most microscopes is 160 millimeters. Determine the objective lens magnification for your microscope. a. lower power = ________________ b. medium power = ______________ c. high power = _________________ Within limits, the magnification of a microscope is the product of the eyepiece magnification time the magnification of the objective. Determine the magnification of your microscope. a. lower power = _____________ b. medium power = ___________ c. high power = ______________ 2. Calibration of ocular micrometer. The calibration of a microscope is essentially the comparison of an unknown scale (ocular micrometer) with a known scale (stage micrometer). To do this, proceed as follows: 4 (1) Using the medium power objective (8mm), focus on the stage micrometer scale. The eyepiece micrometer should also be in focus and should appear superimposed on the stage micrometer scale. (2) Line up the zero mark on the stage micrometer with the zero mark on the ocular micrometer. (3) Observe the point at which one of the scale divisions (y) on the ocular micrometer coincides with a scale division on the stage micrometer (x). (4) Count the number of divisions on the ocular micrometer between the coincident lines. (5) Count the number of divisions on the stage micrometer between the coincident lines and convert to microns. The smallest division is equal to 10 microns. (6) Find the value of one division on the ocular micrometer by dividing the number of divisions into the number of microns between coincident lines on the stage micrometer. Example: Ocular micrometer = 47 divisions Stage micrometer = 75 divisions or 10 x 75 = 750 microns Microns / ocular division = No. of microns stage micrometer No. of divisions ocular micrometer = 750/47 = 15.95 microns (7) Repeat the procedure for your objectives and record below. a. low power = _______________ b. medium power = ___________ c. high power = ______________ B. PRINCIPAL WOOD PLANES 1. Locate the principal surfaces on your white pine blocks. (a) Cross or transverse section (b) Radial section 5 (c) Tangential section Sketch in your notebooks a three (3) dimensional view of your white pine block and label its principal planes, annual rings (alternating springwood and summerwood zones) resin canals, etc. 2. Practice making razor blade sections of your pine block and study them under your microscope. Prepare sections of each of the three surfaces, and identify major anatomical structures. a. Cross section ___________ b. Radial section __________ c. Tangential section _______ BE SURE TO COMPLETE LABORATORY WORKSHEET #2 IN YOUR NOTEBOOKS 6 EXERCISE 2 WOOD TEXTURE & GROSS ANATOMICAL FEATURES Objective: To determine what dictates, and become familiar with, various wood textures; to introduce some basic physical and anatomical properties useful in wood identification Texture in wood is determined by the size of individual wood elements. Wood with small diameter cells is referred to as fine textured. Wood with large diameter cells give a different appearance and is called course textured. 1. From a slide of southern pine or eastern red cedar, measure and record the following for a springwood and summerwood tracheid. Species = _______________ Springwood Summerwood a. Tangential cell diameter = __________ ____________ b. Radial cell diameter = __________ ____________ c. Tangential cell wall thickness = __________ ____________ d. Radial cell wall thickness = __________ ____________ 2. Repeat (1) for a tracheid of redwood or bald cypress. Species = _______________ Springwood Summerwood a. Tangential cell diameter = __________ ____________ b. Radial cell diameter = __________ ____________ c. Tangential cell wall thickness = __________ ____________ d. Radial cell wall thickness = __________ ____________ 7 3. Measure the length and diameter of several tracheids of some macerated softwood. Calculate the average length and diameter. Species___________________ Length Diameter (1) ____________ _______________ (2) ____________ _______________ (3) ____________ _______________ (4) ____________ _______________ (5) ____________ _______________ Total = __________ Total =___________ Avg = _________ Avg = ___________ 4. Determine by visual observation the relative texture of the following woods (fine, medium, coarse): Texture a. redwood _________ b. western hemlock _________ c. eastern red cedar _________ d. baldcypress _________ e. southern yellow pine ________ 5. Work through Laboratory Worksheet #3 and put in your notebooks. 8 EXERCISE 3 MICROSCOPIC STUDY OF SOFTWOODS Objective: Learn