An Examination of Selected Wood Properties of Some Economic Tropical Timber Species.

Abstract

Characterizing wood is necessary in order to make information available to interested users of a particular timber species. In this study we characterized Aningeria robusta (A.Chev.) Aubrev.& Pelleger,( Asanfena), Terminalia ivorensis A.Chev., (Emeri), Terminalia superba Engl. & Diel., (Ofram), Khaya ivorensis A.Chev., (Mahogany) and Entandrophragma cylindricum Sprague., (Sapele) according to their anatomical and physical properties. This work discussed the macroscopic physical properties in terms of densities (air/oven dry), colour and surface roughness of the five wood species. Cell properties studied included vessel, fibre and parenchyma cell dimensions as well as their pore arrangements. It was clear that, the proportion of fibres per mm² of the species, as well as their corresponding cell wall thicknesses values seems to bear some relationship with their densities

Keywords: maceration; optical microscopy; roughness; wood anatomy; wood density