Some Wood Properties of Plantation Pines, Pinus Caribaea and Pinus Oocarpa

Pinus caribaea and Pinus oocarpa plantations in Brazil provided test trees from 4 to 17 years old. Wood of Pinus oocarpa exhibited slightly higher stiffness and bending and compression strengths than that of Caribbean pine. Increasing age was correlated with increases in these mechanical properties, and, in many cases, specific gravity.Patterns of wood density distribution were determined by X-ray and water-displacement methods within cross sections from different heights of trees. In both species, tracheid length increased steadily with age and was greater in latewood than in earlywood