Honorable hardwoods of China

fILD Chinese proverb: "He who Vfails to plant a tree. shall go coffinless to the grave."

So great is the importance of trees in China. In fact, entire forests in the country have been considered sacred, and foreigners prevented from visiting them.

Similarly, a most revered hardwood is keyaki (Zelkova serrata). With a lustrous, light golden brown heartwood, it is a protected tree which can only be used for the building and maintenance of temples. For centuries, the wood has been used in temples for carvings and highly polished columns. The highly decorative figured wood features delicate bird's eyes, outlined with fine fringes and distinct rays, which are sliced into treasured decorative veneers.

Although the Chinese use it for decorative purposes, keyaki is a hard, strong, resilient wood, very resistant to insect and fungal attack. It has good steam bending characteristics and works, nails, screws and glues well.

Other China hardwoods are devoted to more general purposes. So called Japanese birch ( Betula maximowicziand is another hard, tough wood. With a bright yellow-red heartwood, it is fairly straight grained with a fine texture. Characteristics include medium density, stiffness and resistance to shock loads; high bending and crushing strength, and good steam bending.

Unfortunately, the wood tends to dry rapidly and warp, and bind on saws. It is perishable and liable to attack by fungus and the common furniture beetle. lnsect attack may cause pith flecks.

Furniture, interior joinery, uphol- stery frames, turnery, decorative veneers and flooring are among its USCS.

Likewise perishable is sen (,4canthopanax ricino.lblius). The straight grained, greenish-brown hardwood rates poorly in all strength categories. But it works easily and well with hand and machine tools and planes to a silky surface, so it is commonly used in applications in which strength is less important (artistic joinery, carvings, turnery).

Weakness is also not a problem for kiri (Paulownia .fargesii) in the uses to which it is best suited. The heartwood varies in color from silver-gray to a light or nut brown, sometimes with a reddish cast. It has a very fine straight grain and a smooth even texture. It is extremely light, yet works, glues, stains and polishes very well.

Consequently, kiri is highly prized for use in cabinetry, musical instruments, clogs and for peeling into exceptionally thin "scale veneers," mounted on paper and printed to produce special greeting cards.

Equally valued is kaki (Diospyros kaki) or Chinese persimmon. Timbers have a very wide straw-colored sapwood and a dense black heartwood streaked with orange-yellow, brown, gray or salmon pink, separately or combined. With their fine, even texture, planed surfaces have a cold, marble-like feel.

The wood is moderately stiff and resistant to shock loads, quite durable and resistant to preservative treatment. It is high in bending and crushing strength.

Story at a Glance

China produces a wide range of prized hardwoods. other woods devoted to more general, mostly decorative, uses.

Kaki is suitable for any purpose requiring a very heavy, close, compact wood with the ability to wear smoothly. Yet large sizes are not freely available and it is too heavy for plywood manufacture.

Although China does boast a number of valuable hardwoods, it unfortunately has been overshadowed by Japan, rich with the abovementioned species plus many others.

The Softwood Trade

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