Compression Wood in Gymnosperms

Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. Pub/ius Vergilius Mara Forests have long been one of mankind's most important natural re sources and not the least because forests are, if properly managed, re newable. They serve us in many different ways, but above all in pro viding us with wood, one of the most remarkable and useful of all natural materials. Reaction wood, compression wood in gymnosperms and tension wood in the arboreal angiosperms, serves the function of making it possible for trees to perform movements. In the ancient Ginkgo and in the conifers, the ability to form compression wood is of vital importance to each and every tree. Compression wood plays a crucial role in the regulation of tree form in these gymnosperms, and their arborescent habit probably depends on their ability to develop this tissue. Few forest and plantation trees are devoid of compression wood in their stem, and all of them have it in their branches. Unfortu nately, what is necessary and beneficial for the tree in this case is harmful to mankind, for compression wood is a very serious defect in both sawtimber and pulpwood. It is now almost 20 years since the last complete survey of compres sion wood was published, namely Arthur H. Westing's excellent review of this subject. My major objective in writing the present book has been to bring together in one single work everything that is currently known about compression wood.

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Historical Background.- Taxonomy, Designation, General Characteristics, and Determination of Compression Wood.- The Structure of Compression Wood.- Chemical Properties of Compression Wood.- Distribution of Chemical Constituents.- Physical Properties of Compression Wood.- Origin and Evolution of Compression Wood.- Formation of Compression Wood.- Incidence and Occurrence of Compression Wood.- Fundamental Factors Causing Formation of Compression Wood.- Gravitropism and Compression Wood.- Physiology of Compression Wood Formation.- Inheritance of Compression Wood.- Ecology of Compression Wood Formation.- Silviculture and Compression Wood.- Mechanism of Compression Wood Action.- Compression Wood in Lumber, Plywood, and Board Manufacture.- Compression Wood in Pulp and Paper Manufacture.- Compression Wood Induced in Firs by the Balsam Woolly Aphid (Adelges piceae).- Opposite Wood.