Key to the identification of conifer woods at the level of species. European and north american regions

Abstract

This work presents the first step to establish a identification key of world-wide conifer woods at the species level. The identification of 120 coniferous species of North America and Europe have been established. Traditional methods of preparation and microscopic woods description have been followed. The 93 traits used were grouped in six main types: 29 characters of the tracheids, eight characters of the longitudinal parenchyma, 37 characters of wood rays, seven characters of resin ducts, two macroscopic characters, and 10 characters related to the geographical distribution of the species. An open key has been obtained for the identification of the species based on these six groups of traits. This work constitutes one of the research lines of the Wood Techonology Department of the ETSI Montes in Madrid, and can be used by researches and users devoted to the international woods trade of protected species.