Category: Glossary of Terms -A

Mean age of the trees comprising a forest, crop, or stand. In forests, the mean age of dominant (and sometimes codominant) trees is taken. The plantation age is generally taken from the year the plantation was begun without adding the age of the nursery stock. Of a tree: the time elapsed since the germination of…

Lumber or other wood products that have been either dried by exposure to natural atmospheric conditions outdoors or in an unheated shed or dried to equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere. Moisture content of air-dried wood fiber depends on relative humidity, temperature, and length of drying period. It’s also referred to as air seasoned.

A reference to the cutting direction; as in planing a board surface, such that splitting ahead of the cutter follows the grain direction downward into the wood below the projected cutting surface. Also, generally perpendicular to the grain direction, across the grain.

An older stage of decay readily recognized as wood that has become punky, soft, spongy, stringy, rinkshaked, pitted, or crumbly.

A substance in which two surfaces are held together by inter-facial forces, which may consist of valence forces or interlocking action or both.

A material that is held to another material by an adhesive.

Generally perpendicular to the grain direction.

The weight of water vapor present in a unit volume of air; usually expressed as grains/cu. ft.

American Hardwood Environmental Profile. Consignment-specific shipping document providing information to demonstrate the legality and sustainability of the U.S. hardwood species contained in that shipment including quantitative data on the environmental impacts associated with delivering it anywhere in the world.

is an acronym used for the American Standard Testing Methods.