cal and physical nature of various woods, and thus take appro- 

 priate measures for their preservation. 



The value of the wood collection to commerce also is appreci- 

 able. Although there are over 40,000 woody species of flowering 

 plants (hardwoods) in the tropics, only some 600 are interna- 

 tionally traded and of these only 20 or more species constitute 

 more than 90% of all commercial exploitation of wood. Since 

 the anatomy of wood determines its physical and mechanical 

 properties and limitations, it indirectly determines the utility and 



commercia 



Wood 



largely untapped) facility to the timber and wood products 

 industries, as a repository for both samples of and information 

 about lesser known species of wood with previously unexploited 

 commercial potential. 



Current curatorial projects in the wood collection include the 

 cataloguing and addition of the Charles Sprague Sargent collec- 

 tion, made for the 10th Census of North American Forest Trees, 

 which was completed for the United States Forest Service in 

 1884. This exquisite collection includes over 1200 uniformly 

 sized and highly polished wood blocks representing 412 species 

 of North American forest trees. Sargent's collection is an excel- 

 lent teaching aid and source of material for various research 

 problems in botany, forestry, wood science and technology. 

 These woods and data about their origin and physical properties 

 have been included in a monographic forest census published by 

 Sargent in 1884. Ironically, it appears that no researchers in 

 botany, forestry, or wood technology have made much use of 

 this priceless wood collection. 



Another curatorial project now underway is the collection of 

 both wood and voucher herbarium specimens from plants culti- 

 vated at the Arnold Arboretum. The Harvard Wood Collection 

 already includes over 400 such specimens gathered prior to the 

 1940's by various botanists. This continuing program will pro- 

 vide a repository for plants which have been removed from the 

 Arboretum's living collections; while assembling unique research 

 material with which botanists can compare the anatomy of 

 many unrelated plants native to diverse habitats and geographic 



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