The arrangement of the annual growth rings will determine what face of oak boards will look like.

Plain Sawn

Quarter Sawn

Rift Sawn

PLAIN SAWN:  The direction of the growth rings will be semi circles and the grain on the face will have cathedrals.

QUARTER SAWN:  The direction of the growth rings will be at 90 degrees to the faces and the grain on the face will be straight.  The medullary rays (flakes) will be evidenced on each face.  Flake is often referred to as "tiger stripe" figure. 

RIFT SAWN:  The direction of the growth rings is between sawn and quarter sawn.  The grain of the face will be straight with few if any medullary rays appearing.  For sawing techniques refer to Lumber Sawing.

Old age comes to trees as to all other living organisms.  Theoretically, the life span of a tree is indefinite; we know that certain species are longer-lived than others.  The Gray Birch is old at 40 and Balsawood at 15 years; Sugar Hard Maple lives longer, up to 500 years.  Some Oaks live over 1500 years, Junipers more than 2000 years.  Some of the giant Sequoias are believed to have been on earth 1000 years before Christ.  There are Bristlecone Pines (Pinus aristata) in California over 4000 years old.  Old trees are like old people.  The infirmities of age come upon them.  They have difficulty with respiration and their recuperative capacity is impaired; wounds do not heal as easily.  The leaves become smaller and their moister content decreases.  It becomes increasingly difficult for the tree to provide water for its vital functions.  Soon the tree decays, little by little, until it is entirely consumed.  The elements from which it is composed have been released into the environment, to be used again by new life just developing.

Paraphrased from:  Know Your Woods by Albert J. Constantine, Jr., Scribner, 1987

Bark can be very thin or very thick.  The bark of a birch tree may be only 1/4 inch thick, while the bark of a giant sequoia can be as much as two feet thick.

Cinnamon, the flavoring used in cooking and candies comes from the Cinnamon tree.  Cinnamon trees are native to China and Japan and are now cultivated in India and other tropical countries.

Almost a third of the world's total land area is covered by forest.

A well-positioned shade tree can keep a house 20 percent cooler in summer.

Thirty to forty gallons of sugar maple sap must be boiled down to make just one gallon of maple syrup.

In the 1300s, France's forests were so reduced and wood was so scarce that wooden coffins were often rented and reused.