• Introduction
  • Softwoods
    • Eastern Red Cedar
    • Eastern White Pine
    • Bald Cypress
    • Eastern Hemlock
    • Spruce
  • Hardwoods
    • Ring Porous Hardwoods
      • Chestnut
      • Elm
      • Fox Grape
      • Hickory
      • Hackberry
      • Black Locust
      • The Oaks
      • American Ash
      • Hercules Club
      • Mulberry
      • Paw Paw
      • Redbud
      • Sassafras
      • Sumacs
      • Trumpet Vine
    • Diffuse Porous Hardwoods
      • American Beech
      • Cherry
      • Cottonwood
      • Holly
      • Maple
      • Red Gum
      • Tulip Poplar
      • Black Willow
      • Sycamore
      • Birch
    • Semi-ring Porous Hardwoods
      • Black Walnut
      • Common Persimmon
  • Key to Softwoods
  • Key to Hardwoods
  • JPPM Home


Wood and Charcoal
Identification

Introduction

Creating a Southern  Maryland Type Collection

Wood and Charcoal Anatomy Basics

Key to Softwoods

Key to Hardwoods

Softwoods

Eastern Red Cedar

Eastern White Pine

Bald Cypress

Eastern Hemlock

Spruce

Hardwoods -
Ring Porous Hardwoods

Chestnut

Elm

Fox Grape

Hickory

Hackberry

Black Locust

The Oaks

American Ash

Hercules Club

Mulberry

Pawpaw

Redbud

Sassafras

Sumacs

Trumpet Vine


Diffuse Porous Hardwoods

American Beech

Cherry

Cottonwood

Holly

Maple

Red Gum

Tulip Poplar

Black Willow

Sycamore

Birch


Semi-ring Porous Hardwoods

Black Walnut

Common Persimmon

    Wood & Charcoal Identification in Southern Maryland
    By Harry Alden

Black Locust

Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia /Fabaceae). The genus Robinia contains approximately 10 species that grow naturally in eastern North America and Mexico. Robinia pseudoacacia grows from the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania south to northern Georgia to eastern Oklahoma. Robinia pseudoacacia trees reach heights of 100 ft with diameters of 3 ft. Robinia pseudoacacia sapwood is off-white and the heartwood color can be a greenish yellow to a deep dark red brown. The wood of Robinia pseudoacacia is very dense and brittle with a strong decay resistance. Black locust is extremely strong and hard, like Hickory, but is hard to work with hand tools. It is used in fencing, furniture, insulator pins, long bows, mine timbers, and treenails for ships.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/TechSheets/HardwoodNA/pdf_files/robpseudeng.pdf.

Characteristics found in the Locust, Black (Robinia pseudoacacia)

  • Ring porous
  • Coalesced/Confluent parenchyma
  • Tyloses
  • Spirals in vessels
  • Simple perforations
  • I/V pits medium (8-12)
  • Rays 1-8 seriate & homocellular to heterocellular
  • Crystals in rays and axial parenchyma

WOOD SLIDES
Click on each image to view a larger image.

CHARCOAL SLIDES


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Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab
Updated: 4/30/17

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