Silvics of North America (1991),[1] a forest inventory compiled and published by the United States Forest Service, includes many conifers in states east of the Mississippi River.[a] It superseded Silvics of Forest Trees of the United States (1965), which was the first extensive American tree inventory.[3]
All of the conifers in the inventory except the larches and some bald cypresses are evergreens.[4] Apart from two species in the yew family, all are in either the pine family (including firs, larches, spruces, pines, Douglas firs and hemlocks) or the cypress family (including junipers, redwoods, giant sequoias, bald cypresses and four genera of cedars).[2][5][6][b]
Softwood from North American conifers has a variety of commercial uses. The sturdier timber is used for plywood, wood veneer and construction framing, including structural support beams and studs. Milled logs can be fashioned into posts, poles and railroad ties. Less sturdy timber is often ground and processed into pulpwood, principally for papermaking. Resins from sap yield pine tar, turpentine and other terpenes.[7]
- ^ Burns & Honkala 1991.
- ^ a b POWO.
- ^ a b Burns & Honkala 1991, pp. i–vi.
- ^ National Plant Data Team 2024, Characteristics, Leaf Retention.
- ^ National Plant Data Team 2024, Thuja occidentalis: Plant Guide; Characteristics.
- ^ Johnston 1991, pp. 580, 587.
- ^ National Plant Data Team 2024, Help Document.
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