Researchers have identified an entirely new type of wood that does not fit into either category of hardwood or softwood.
Researchers have identified an entirely new type of wood that does not fit into either category of hardwood or softwood.
Scientists from the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University and Jagiellonian University, Poland made the discovery while undertaking an evolutionary survey of the microscopic structure of wood from some of the world’s most iconic trees and shrubs.
They found that Tulip Trees, which are related to magnolias and can grow over 100 feet tall, have this unique type of wood. This discovery may explain why the trees, which diverged from magnolias when earth's atmospheric CO2 concentrations were relatively low, grow so tall and so fast. This revelation opens new opportunities to improve carbon capture and storage in plantation forests by planting a fast-growing tree more commonly seen in ornamental gardens or breeding/engineering Tulip Tree-like wood into other tree species.
The discovery was part of an evolutionary survey of the microscopic structure of wood from 33 tree species from the Cambridge University Botanic Garden’s Living Collections. The survey explored how wood ultrastructure evolved across softwoods (gymnosperms such as pines and conifers) and hardwoods (angiosperms including oak, ash, birch, and eucalypts).
Read more at University of Cambridge
Image: Liriodendron tulipifera wood ultrastructure observed under a cryo-SEM reveals enlarge macrofibril structures. (Credit: Jan J Lyczakowski and Raymond Wightman)
