Short answers, pulled from the story.
Scientists uncovered plant fossils in New Brunswick dating back approximately 395 to 400 million years. These specimens represent the earliest known evidence of plants that grew wood during the Devonian period.
Regions with distinct seasons like New Zealand show clear annual patterns while equatorial areas such as Singapore often lack these distinct seasonal differences. This results in indistinct or absent rings where earlywood forms rapidly at the start of the growing season and latewood develops later in summer.
Knots reduce tension strength but do not affect resistance to shear or splitting within the timber. While sound knots do not weaken wood under compression parallel to the grain, breaking strength remains highly susceptible to any defect presence and resin may bleed through painted surfaces months or years after manufacture.
Thin sapwood characterizes chestnut, black locust, mulberry, osage-orange, and sassafras trees. Maple, ash, hickory, hackberry, beech, and pine typically feature thick sapwood layers that conduct water from roots to leaves and store seasonal reserves prepared by foliage.
In 2021 wood fuel comprised 49 percent share totaling 2 billion cubic meters out of approximately 4 billion cubic meters removed annually. Nearly half of this volume serves fuel purposes either directly as firewood or indirectly through charcoal and pellet production globally.