I am writing a paper on the concise topic of wood ;) and, while I know there is difference in opinion on the subject, I wanted to know your take on the question: from shrubs to trees, from the pith to the bark, from the roots to the stems, from the seed to the grown tree, where and when does the substance we call wood begin and end? I think for practical purposes “what is wood” is intuitively obvious, but I’m looking for the technical boundaries between what is defined as wood and other organic material in a tree/plant.

Kind regards,
Calvin

I tried attaching photos the first time that I posted. Hopefully these will work on this attempt. In advance, thank you.

This is an off-the-wall question, but I’ve been experimenting applying iron acetate to various woods. Of course, they all react differently, but I noticed that the wood I asked about goes nearly jet black. Do you know if the black cherry would be loaded with tannins? Thanks again for all you do here.

Interesting! Thanks for the insight.

Possibly black cherry. The sapwood/heartwood demarcation in the wood looks close, as does bark in last pic.

I’m sorry, I don’t see any streaking in the pictures. If you are referring to the redder portions in the center of the boards, that is just heartwood and is a normal part of the wood coloration.