Strength and stiffness of the reaction wood in five Eucalyptus species

Abstract Tree stems deviating from the vertical position react by the formation of tension wood (TW) or compression wood (CW), which are called in general as reaction wood (RW), in which the cells are modified chemically and anatomically. The focus of the present work is the mechanical behavior of TW in five 37-year-old Eucalyptus species, which were grown on a planting area with an average slope of 28% leading to decentralized pith in the trees, which is an unequivocal indication of the presence of RW. TW and opposite wood (OW) samples were isolated and subjected to a compression-parallel-to-grain test. It was observed that TW is less resistant and less stiff than the OW.