chestnut (Q. prinus), post (Q. stellata), overcup (Q. lyrata),
swamp chestnut (Q. michauxii), bur (Q. macrocarpa),
chinkapin (Q. muehlenbergii), and swamp white
(Q. bicolor). The most important western oak species, Or-
egon white oak (Q. garryana), is a member of this group.
The sapwood of the white oaks is nearly white and roughly
2 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in.) wide. The heartwood is generally
grayish brown. Heartwood pores are usually plugged with
tyloses, which tend to make the wood impenetrable to liq-
uids. Consequently, most white oaks are suitable for tight
cooperage, although many heartwood pores of chestnut oak
lack tyloses. The wood of white oak is somewhat heavier
than the wood of red oak. Its heartwood has good decay
resistance.
White oaks are usually cut into lumber, railroad crossties,
cooperage, mine timbers, fence posts, veneer, fuelwood,
and many other products. High-quality white oak is es-
pecially sought for tight cooperage. An important use of
white oak is for planking and bent parts of ships and boats;
heartwood is often specified because of its decay resistance.
White oak is also used for furniture, flooring, pallets, agri-
cultural implements, railroad cars, truck floors, furniture,
doors, and millwork.
Sassafras
Sassafras (Sassafras albi‑
dum) ranges from south-
eastern Iowa and eastern
Texas eastward. Sassafras
is easily confused with
black ash, which it re-
sembles in color, grain,
and texture. Sapwood is
light yellow, and heartwood varies from dull grayish brown
to dark brown, sometimes with a reddish tinge. Freshly cut
surfaces have a characteristic odor. The wood is moderately
heavy, moderately hard, moderately weak in bending and
endwise compression, quite high in shock resistance, and
resistant to decay.
Sassafras was highly prized by the native Americans for
dugout canoes, and some sassafras lumber is still used for
small boats. Locally, sassafras is used for fence posts and
rails and for general millwork.
Sweetgum
Sweetgum (Liquidambar
styraciflua) grows from
southwestern Connecticut
westward into Missouri
and southward to the Gulf
Coast. Almost all lumber
is produced in the South-
ern and South Atlantic
States.
The lumber from sweetgum is usually separated into sap
gum (the light-colored sapwood) or redgum (the reddish-brown heartwood). Sweetgum often has a form of cross
grain called interlocked grain, and it must be dried slowly.
When quartersawn, interlocked grain produces a ribbon-
type stripe that is desirable for interior woodwork and
furniture. The wood is moderately heavy and hard. It is
moderately strong, moderately stiff, and moderately high
in shock resistance.
Sweetgum is used principally for lumber, veneer, plywood,
slack cooperage, railroad crossties, fuel, pulpwood, boxes
and crates, furniture, interior moulding, and millwork.
Sycamore, American
American sycamore
(Platanus occidentalis) is
sometimes called button-
wood or buttonball-tree.
Sycamore grows from
Maine to Nebraska,
southward to Texas, and
eastward to Florida.
The heartwood of sycamore is reddish brown; the sapwood
is light in color and from 4 to 8 cm (2 to 3 in.) wide. The
wood has a fine texture and interlocked grain. It has high
shrinkage in drying. It is moderately heavy, moderately
hard, moderately stiff, moderately strong, and it has good
shock resistance.
Sycamore is used principally for lumber, veneer, railroad
crossties, slack cooperage, fence posts, and fuel. The lum-
ber is used for furniture, boxes (particularly small food
containers), pallets, flooring, handles, and butcher blocks.
Veneer is used for fruit and vegetable baskets and some
decorative panels and door skins.
Tanoak
Tanoak (Lithocarpus
densiflorus) is also
known as tanbark-oak
because high-grade tan-
nin was once obtained
in commercial quanti-
ties from its bark. This
species is found from
southwestern Oregon to
southern California, mostly near the coast but also in the
Sierra Nevadas.
Sapwood of tanoak is light reddish brown when first cut and
turns darker with age to become almost indistinguishable
from heartwood, which also ages to dark reddish brown.
The wood is heavy and hard. Except for compression per-
pendicular to grain, the wood has roughly the same strength
properties as those of eastern white oak. Tanoak has higher
shrinkage during drying than does white oak, and it has a
tendency to collapse during drying. Tanoak is quite suscep-
tible to decay, but the sapwood takes preservatives easily.Chapter 2 Characteristics and Availability of Commercially Important Woods