Michael Vick

However, the Washington Redhawks' star quarterback is a mobile, left-handed passer named "Mike Mexico". The greatest increase due to drying is in the ultimate crushing strength, and strength at elastic limit in endwise compression; these are followed by the modulus of rupture, and stress at elastic limit in cross-bending, while the modulus of elasticity is least affected. Due to Midway losing their NFL license (EA Sports now has exclusive NFL licensing), all teams and players in the game are fictitious. An extreme example is the case of a completely dry spruce block 5 cm in section, which will sustain a permanent load four times as great as that which a green block of the same size will support. In a related note, the video game developer Midway Games alluded to Michael Vick and his Ron Mexico alter-ego in their Blitz: The League title. Drying produces a decided increase in the strength of wood, particularly in small specimens. The status of the lawsuit is pending. Within certain limits the greater the water content the greater its softening effect.

However, due to the media interest surrounding the case, the National Football League began disallowing the use of the jersey/name combination two days after the lawsuit. A similar effect of common observation is in the softening action of water on paper or cloth. This led to a deluge of fans ordering customized #7 Atlanta Falcons jerseys on NFL.com with the name "Mexico" on the back. The general effect of the water content upon the wood substance is to render it softer and more pliable. Elliot further alleged that Vick had visited clinics under the alias "Ron Mexico" to get treatments, thus he knew of his condition. Even oven-dried wood retains a small percentage of moisture, but for all except chemical purposes, may be considered absolutely dry. In March, 2005, a woman named Sonya Elliot filed a civil lawsuit against Michael Vick claiming she contracted genital herpes from him and that Vick failed to inform her that he had the sexually-transmitted disease. Wood that is thoroughly air-dried retains from 8-16% of water in the cell walls, and none, or practically none, in the other forms.

However, most of the commercial's effects were computer-generated; Vick's athleticism and arm strength were clearly exaggerated to the realm of near-improbability. In heartwood it occurs only in the first and last forms. Vick also appeared in a Powerade television commercial featuring a handheld camera view of him during practice knocking receivers off their feet with his passes and then throwing a ball 100+ yards into the upper deck of the stadium. Water occurs in living wood in three conditions, namely: (1) in the cell walls, (2) in the protoplasmic contents of the cells, and (3) as free water in the cell cavities and spaces. Without Vick, the Falcons were dismal. If ease of working is prized, wood should be chosen with regard to its uniformity of texture and straightness of grain, which will in most cases occur when there is little contrast between the late wood of one season's growth and the early wood of the next. However, Vick was struck with a perceived curse surrounding players who have appeared on the cover of previous and later installments of the franchise, as he suffered the aforementioned broken leg. In many uses of wood, strength is not the main consideration.

EA Sports chose Michael Vick to be on the cover of their popular Madden NFL 2004 game, in which he was infamously almost unstoppable. In general it may be stated that such woods of medium growth afford stronger material than when very rapidly or very slowly grown. However, regardless of the controversy that surrounds his playing style, Michael Vick continues to woo crowds with his explosive style of play. The effect of rate of growth is, therefore, not the same as in the ring-porous woods, approaching more nearly the conditions in the conifers. Following Vick's selection, sports columnist Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News called Vick "the most overrated player in the League.". In diffuse-porous woods, as has been stated, the vessels or pores are scattered throughout the ring instead of collected in the early wood. He also has over 500 yards rushing with 6 touchdowns. The effect of rate of growth on the qualities of chestnut wood is summarized by the same authority as follows:.

Vick was selected to the Pro Bowl for the 2005 season, a controversial pick, since Vick's season of 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and a little over 2,000 passing yards would be considered, at best, an average performance for a quarterback. Forest Service show that:. Some fans have also reacted negatively to the constant media hype that surrounds Vick, and feel that an over-exuberant American sports media anointed Michael Vick as the best player in football long before he deserved such an accolade. The results of a series of tests on hickory by the U.S. His best passing season came in 2002, when he amassed a quarterback rating of only 81.6. Here not only strength, but toughness and resilience are important. A few critics have been far harsher, labeling Michael Vick an athlete who happens to play quarterback rather than a true quarterback. This is particularly the case in the choice of hickory for handles and spokes.

Some critics have countered that it's unfair to cast the blame on the receivers alone, since Vick remains the common denominator in the Falcons offense. Wide-ringed wood is often called "second-growth", because the growth of the young timber in open stands after the old trees have been removed is more rapid than in trees in the forest, and in the manufacture of articles where strength is an important consideration such "second-growth" hardwood material is preferred. Arguably, Vick's favorite target is tight end Alge Crumpler, a very good receiver, but certainly no speedster. Such variation is very largely the result of rate of growth. He was released by the organization prior to the 2005 season. In inferior oak, such fibre areas are much reduced both in quantity and quality. But Price was a massive disappointment, catching just six touchdowns passes over the course of two seasons. The late wood of good oak, except for radial grayish patches of small pores, is dark colored and firm, and consists of thick-walled fibres which form one-half or more of the wood.

To help remedy this, the Falcons acquired former Buffalo Bills wideout Peerless Price prior to the 2003 season in hopes that he could give Vick a legitimate "deep threat" target. In good oak these large vessels of the early wood occupy from 6 to 10 per cent of the volume of the log, while in inferior material they may make up 25 per cent or more. Other pundits also believe that the Falcons are relatively weak in quality wide receivers. As the breadth of ring diminishes, this middle portion is reduced so that very slow growth produces comparatively light, porous wood composed of thin-walled vessels and wood parenchyma. Vick supporters argue that the quarterback rating formula, which does not take rushing yards into account, is not an accurate benchmark of Vick's performance. In ring-porous woods of good growth it is usually the middle portion of the ring in which the thick-walled, strength-giving fibres are most abundant. Many critics have stated that, while Michael Vick has a powerful arm, his passes are not nearly as accurate as other top quarterbacks in the league, such as Cincinnati's Carson Palmer or Indianapolis' Peyton Manning, both of whom have better quarterback ratings. This, it must be remembered, applies only to ring-porous woods such as oak, ash, hickory, and others of the same group, and is, of course, subject to some exceptions and limitations.

But, ironically, Vick's knee problem forced him to become more of a pocket passer, and his quarterback rating has improved dramatically since his return. This may be briefly summed up in the general statement that the more rapid the growth or the wider the rings of growth, the heavier, harder, stronger, and stiffer the wood. In a November, 2005 press conference, Michael Vick scoffed at the notion that he was a weak "pocket" passer. In the case of the ring-porous hardwoods there seems to exist a pretty definite relation between the rate of growth of timber and its properties. Young eventually won a Super Bowl and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. But in choosing a particular specimen it is not the width of ring, but the proportion and character of the late wood which should govern. Critics cite the leg fracture he suffered in the 2003 pre-season and a knee injury he suffered early in the current season (which reoccurred a few weeks later), that has hampered his mobility throughout the year as prime evidence that Vick needs to learn to "pick his spots", citing the example of Steve Young, another mobile left-handed signal-caller who had a mediocre professional career before being placed in an offensive system that optimized his talents. In general, however, it may be said that where strength or ease of working is essential, woods of moderate to slow growth should be chosen.

While Michael Vick's athleticism is virtually unparalleled, a frequent criticism is that he puts himself at unnecessary risk of injury and has poor fundamental skills. The quality of the site where the tree grows undoubtedly affects the character of the wood formed, though it is not possible to formulate a rule governing it. His speed always makes him a danger for opposing defenses, and the Falcons are one of the few teams in the NFL to have a large number of specifically-designed running plays for their quarterback. In conifers, at least, rate of growth alone does not determine the proportion of the two portions of the ring, for in some cases the wood of slow growth is very hard and heavy, while in others the opposite is true. Thus, opposing defenses must find ways to constrict Vick's running lanes in order to contain him. Several factors may be involved. Additionally, he has often been able to buy more time to throw by evading pass rushers with his spectacular agility and speed. No satisfactory explanation can as yet be given for the real causes underlying the formation of early and late wood.

Whereas most quarterbacks are not a major threat to run the ball for a lot of yards, Vick is capable of breaking huge runs from anywhere on the field. One can judge comparative density, and therefore to some extent weight and strength, by visual inspection. Vick's mobility has often caused major problems for opposing defenses, which have to defend against him differently than they would against a conventional-style quarterback. In specimens that show a very large proportion of late wood it may be noticeably more porous and weigh considerably less than the late wood in pieces that contain but little. In the 2004 football season (including post season), he rushed for over 1,000 yards, which is a higher rushing total than many running backs in the NFL. It is not only the proportion of late wood, but also its quality, that counts. Notable is the fact that while he throws left-handed, he is otherwise right-handed. The width of ring is not nearly so important as the proportion of the late wood in the ring.

Gifted with tremendous speed and mobility, he can engineer big plays with both his arm and his legs. In choosing a piece of pine where strength or stiffness is the important consideration, the principal thing to observe is the comparative amounts of early and late wood. He is considered by many to be the most exciting player in the game of football and he has earned the nickname "Superman". The strength is in the walls, not the cavities. Vick is noted for his unique, explosive playing style. When examined under a microscope the cells of the late wood are seen to be very thick-walled and with very small cavities, while those formed first in the season have thin walls and large cavities. Vick currently resides in Duluth, GA. The late wood of all species is denser than that formed early in the season, hence the greater the proportion of late wood the greater the density and strength.

Vick has also become a focal point in the growing rivalry between the Falcons and Carolina Panthers. If a heavy piece of pine is compared with a light specimen it will be seen at once that the heavier one contains a larger proportion of late wood than the other, and is therefore considerably darker. Vick's #7 jersey has become one of the best-selling pieces of NFL apparel. Some species, such as walnut and cherry, are on the border between the two classes, forming an intermediate group. Many would argue that Michael Vick has revolutionized the quarterback position and has nearly single-handedly transformed the Falcons from a team with a spotty reputation to one of the rising franchises in the NFL. Examples of this kind of wood are basswood, birch, buckeye, maple, poplar, and willow. The Falcons' 2004 season ended with a defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game. In diffuse-porous woods the pores are scattered throughout the growth ring instead of being collected in a band or row.

In 2004, he led the Falcons to a record of 11-5, earning a first-round bye in the NFL Playoffs for only the third time in franchise history. These fibres are the elements which give strength and toughness to wood, while the vessels are a source of weakness. Upon his return, the Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Jacksonville Jaguars, going 3-1 in the final four games of the 2003 season. The rest of the ring, produced in summer, is made up of smaller vessels and a much greater proportion of wood fibres. However, during a pre-season game against the Baltimore Ravens later that year, Michael Vick fractured his right fibula and missed most of the the regular season. In ring-porous species, such as ash, black locust, catalpa, chestnut, elm, hickory, mulberry, and oak, the larger vessels or pores (as cross sections of vessels are called) are localized in the part of the growth ring formed in spring, thus forming a region of more or less open and porous tissue. On January 4, 2003, the Vick-led Atlanta Falcons upset the favored Green Bay Packers 27-7 in the NFC playoffs, ending the Packers' undefeated streak at Lambeau Field. In discussing such woods it is customary to divide them into two large classes, ring-porous and diffuse-porous.

The Falcons selected Michael Vick as the first overall pick, and he made his NFL debut against the San Francisco 49ers. They are more or less filled with vessels: in some cases (oak, chestnut, ash) quite large and distinct, in others (buckeye, poplar, willow) too small to be seen plainly without a small hand lens. Eventually, San Diego selected Texas Christian running back LaDainian Tomlinson with one of those traded spots. The structure of the hardwoods is more complex. In 2001, the Atlanta Falcons traded receiver Tim Dwight and several draft picks to the San Diego Chargers for their number one selection spot in the NFL draft. There are no vessels ("pores") in coniferous wood such as one sees so prominently in oak and ash, for example. Ironically, despite not having played baseball since the eighth grade, Michael Vick was selected by Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies in the 30th round of the 2000 draft. In coniferous or softwood species the wood cells are mostly of one kind, tracheids, and as a result the material is much more uniform in structure than that of most hardwoods.

Virginia Tech has retired his jersey. Ordinary sap-staining is due to fungous growth, but does not necessarily produce a weakening effect. After finishing with a 11-1 record and a Gator Bowl MVP award in 2001, Mike decided to take his game to the NFL. Certain rot-producing fungi impart to wood characteristic colors which thus become symptomatic of weakness. It did have its share of highlights, such as his career rushing high of 210 yards against the Boston College Eagles in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The discoloration is merely an indication of an injury, and in all probability does not of itself affect the properties of the wood. He was favored to win the Heisman Trophy, but a severe ankle sprain kept Vick from living up to the intense media hype. The reddish-brown streaks so common in hickory and certain other woods are mostly the result of injury by birds.

Michael Vick's sophomore season was among the most anticipated in college football history. The black check in western hemlock is the result of insect attacks. Vick was awarded an ESPY as the nation's top college player, the first-ever Archie Griffin Award as college football's valuable player, and finished third in the balloting for the 1999 Heisman Trophy, matching the highest finish ever by a freshman in the voting. Abnormal discoloration of wood often denotes a diseased condition, indicating unsoundness. He led the NCAA in passing efficiency, setting a record for a freshman (180.4), which was also good enough for the second-highest all-time mark to Shaun King's record from the 1998 season at Tulane. Except in the manner just stated the color of wood is no indication of strength. He enjoyed a spectacular freshman season in 1999 leading Virginia Tech to its first-ever 11-0 regular-season record and a spot in the national championship game. In ring-porous woods the vessels of the early wood not infrequently appear on a finished surface as darker than the denser late wood, though on cross sections of heartwood the reverse is commonly true.

Although Virginia Tech lost, 46-29, Vick was able to bring the team back from a 21 point deficit to take a brief lead. This is particularly the case with coniferous woods. He led the Virginia Tech Hokies to an 11-0 season and to the 2000 Bowl Championship Series national title game in the Nokia Sugar Bowl against Florida State University. Since the late wood of a growth ring is usually darker in color than the early wood, this fact may be used in judging the density, and therefore the hardness and strength of the material. His last touchdown was a spectacular flip in which he landed awkardly on his ankle, forcing him to miss the remainder of the game in addition to the following game. Spruce impregnated with crude resin and dried is also greatly increased in strength thereby. He exploded onto the scene in his first collegiate game as a redshirt freshman in 1999 with three rushing TDs, in just over one quarter of play. Stumps thus dug may actually remain a century or more since being cut.

After high school, Michael Vick attended Virginia Tech. Stumps of old longleaf pines are often dug, split into small pieces and sold as kindling for fires. Due to a disappointing collegiate career, however, Curry's stock, as it pertains to the NFL, dropped significantly, and he was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 7th round of the 2002 NFL draft as a wide receiver and kick returner. Structures built of fat lighter are almost impervious to rot and termites; however they are very flammable. Curry would go on to play at the University of North Carolina. Such resin-saturated heartwood is called "fat lighter". Although he was, arguably, somewhat overshadowed by quarterback Ronald Curry of Hampton High School in Hampton, Virginia, who would earn Gatorade National Football Player of the Year honors (he was also a first team Parade All-American in basketball). This is due to the resin which increases the strength when dry.

Michael Vick first came to prominence while at Warwick High School in Newport News, Virginia. Some experiments on very resinous Longleaf Pine specimens, however, indicate an increase in strength. He chose football, and basically gave up all other sports in the ninth grade. This is produced by deposits in the heartwood of various materials resulting from the process of growth, increased possibly by oxidation and other chemical changes, which usually have little or no appreciable effect on the mechanical properties of the wood. His mother pushed him to get involved with an after-school activity. In species which show a distinct difference between heartwood and sapwood the natural color of heartwood is usually darker than that of the sapwood, and very frequently the contrast is conspicuous. But by junior high his adolescent ways got the best of him, and he became a disciplinary problem for his teachers. yew) are harder than most hardwoods.

As a grade schooler, Michael Vick showed promise in baseball and basketball. Conversely, some softwoods (e.g. . The well-known balsa (a hardwood) is actually softer than any commercial softwood. He is the older brother of former Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick and a second cousin of New Orleans Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks. These names are a bit misleading, as hardwoods are not necessarily hard, and softwoods are not necessarily soft. Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980 in Newport News, Virginia), is an American football quarterback for the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons. oak) is called hardwood.

pine) is called softwood, and the wood from broad-leaved trees (e.g. The wood from conifers (e.g. Wood is commonly classified as either softwood or hardwood. The densest wood may be black ironwood.

For example, while mahogany is a medium-dense hardwood which is excellent for fine furniture crafting, balsa is light, making it useful for model building. There is a rough correlation between density of a wood and its strength (mechanical properties). For every trees species there is a range of density for the wood it yields. There is a strong relationship between the properties of wood and the properties of the particular tree that yielded it.

In a large log the sapwood, because of the time in the life of the tree when it was grown, may be inferior in hardness, strength, and toughness to equally sound heartwood from the same log. In some trees, the wood laid on late in the life of a tree is softer, lighter, weaker, and more even-textured than that produced earlier, but in other species, the reverse applies. There may be decided differences in the grain of heartwood and sapwood cut from a large tree, particularly one that is mature. Upon the whole, however, as a tree gets larger in diameter the width of the growth rings decreases.

Some trees, such as southern oaks, maintain the same width of ring for hundreds of years. In the case of forest-grown trees so much depends upon the competition of the trees in their struggle for light and nourishment that periods of rapid and slow growth may alternate. As a tree reaches maturity its crown becomes more open and the annual wood production is lessened, thereby reducing still more the width of the growth rings. Since each succeeding ring is laid down on the outside of the wood previously formed, it follows that unless a tree materially increases its production of wood from year to year, the rings must necessarily become thinner as the trunk gets wider.

The annual rings of growth are for many years quite wide, but later they become narrower and narrower. If a tree grows all its life in the open and the conditions of soil and site remain unchanged, it will make its most rapid growth in youth, and gradually decline. Whatever advantages, however, that sapwood may have in this connection are due solely to its relative age and position. The larvae of many insects bore into the trees and their tunnels remain indefinitely as sources of weakness.

Every broken limb or root, or deep wound from fire, insects, or falling timber, may afford an entrance for decay, which, once started, may penetrate to all parts of the trunk. It is remarkable that the inner heartwood of old trees remains as sound as it usually does, since in many cases it is hundreds of years, and in a few instances thousands of years, old. Since in most uses of wood, knots are defects that weaken the timber and interfere with its ease of working and other properties, it follows that sapwood, because of its position in the tree, may have certain advantages over heartwood. Consequently the sapwood of an old tree, and particularly of a forest-grown tree, will be freer from knots than the heartwood.

No matter how smooth and clear a log is on the outside, it is more or less knotty near the middle. Subsequent growth of wood may completely conceal the stubs which will however remain as knots. When a tree is very young it is covered with limbs almost, if not entirely, to the ground, but as it grows older some or all of them will eventually die and be broken off. Sapwood is thicker in the upper portion of the trunk of a tree than near the base, because the age and the diameter of the upper sections are less.

As the tree gets larger, the sapwood must necessarily become thinner or increase materially in volume. If the rings are narrow, more of them are required than where they are wide. Within the same species the cross-sectional area of the sapwood is very roughly proportional to the size of the crown of the tree. There is no definite relation between the annual rings of growth and the amount of sapwood.

Thin sapwood is characteristic of such trees as chestnut, black locust, mulberry, osage-orange, and sassafras, while in maple, ash, hickory, hackberry, beech, and pine, thick sapwood is the rule. Some species begin to form heartwood very early in life, so having only a thin layer of live sapwood, while in others the change comes slowly. This is shown by the fact that a tree can thrive with its heart completely decayed. Its name derives solely from its position and not from any vital importance to the tree.

This inert or dead portion is called heartwood. As a tree increases in age and diameter an inner portion of the sapwood becomes inactive and finally ceases to function, as the cells die. Sometimes trees grown in the open may become of considerable size, 30 cm or more in diameter, before any heartwood begins to form, for example, in second-growth hickory, or open-grown pines. Hence trees making rapid growth in the open have thicker sapwood for their size than trees of the same species growing in dense forests.

The more leaves a tree bears and the more vigorous its growth, the larger the volume of sapwood required. Its principal functions are to conduct water from the roots to the leaves and to store up and give back according to the season the food prepared in the leaves. All wood in a tree is first formed as sapwood. Sapwood is comparatively new wood, comprising living cells in the growing tree.

The color of fresh sapwood is always light, sometimes nearly white, but more often with a decided tinge of yellow or brown. In some instances this distinction in color is very marked; in others, the contrast is slight, so that it is not always easy to tell where one leaves off and the other begins. Examination of the end of a log of many species reveals a darker-colored inner portion, called the heartwood or duramen, surrounded by a lighter-colored zone called the sapwood. wall panelling, knots are considered a plus as they add visual texture to the wood, giving it a more interesting appearance.

For some purposes, e.g. Sound knots do not weaken wood when subject to compression parallel to the grain. The breaking strength is very susceptible to defects. The effect of knots is to reduce the difference between the fibre stress at elastic limit and the modulus of rupture of beams.

Stiffness and elastic strength are more dependent upon the quality of the wood fibre than upon defects in the beam. Only defects of the most serious character affect the elastic limit of beams. Knots do not necessarily influence the stiffness of structural timber. Sound knots which occur in the central portion one-fourth the height of the beam from either edge are not serious defects.

Knots which occur near the ends of a beam do not weaken it. Knots in a board or plank are least injurious when they extend through it at right angles to its broadest surface. Small knots, however, may be so located in a beam along the neutral plane as actually to increase the strength by tending to prevent longitudinal shearing. The knot, especially (as is often the case) if there is a season check in it, offers little resistance to this tensile stress.

A knot on the upper side is compressed, while one on the lower side is subjected to tension. The extent to which knots affect the strength of a beam depends upon their position, size, number, direction of fibre, and condition. The weakening effect is much more serious where timber is subjected to bending and tension than where under compression. They are defects which weaken timber and depreciate its value for structural purposes where strength is an important consideration.

Knots materially affect checking (cracking) and warping, ease in working, and cleavability of timber. In grading lumber and structural timber, knots are classified according to their form, size, soundness, and the firmness with which they are held in place. Hence dead branches produce knots which are nothing more than pegs in a hole, and likely to drop out after the tree has been sawn. Subsequent layers of growth of the stem are no longer intimately joined with the dead limb, but are laid around it.

During the development of a tree the lower limbs die, but may persist for a time--often for years. Note that a small knot may also be the result of a dormant bud. The fibre direction is at right angles or oblique to the grain of the stem, thus producing local cross grain. The included portion is irregularly conical in shape with the tip at the pith.

Branches generally originate at or near the pith (central axis) of a stem, and the living portion will increase in size through the addition of annual woody layers which are a continuation of those of the stem. Knots are portions of branches included in the wood of the stem or larger branch. In the diffuse-porous woods, the demarcation between rings is not always so clear and in some cases is almost (if not entirely) invisible to the unaided eye. In ring-porous woods each season's growth is always well defined, because the large pores of the spring abut on the denser tissue of the fall before.

In hard pines, on the other hand, the late wood is very dense and is deep-colored, presenting a very decided contrast to the soft, straw-colored early wood. In white pines there is not much contrast in the different parts of the ring, and as a result the wood is very uniform in texture and is easy to work. The outer portion is the late wood or summer wood, being produced in the summer. The inner portion is formed early in the season, when growth is comparatively rapid; it is known as early wood or spring wood.

The part nearest the centre of the tree is more open textured and almost invariably lighter in color than that near the outer portion of the ring. Within a growth ring it may be possible to see two more or less well-defined parts. Where there is no seasonal difference growth rings are likely to be absent. If these seasons are annual these growth rings are annual rings.

Where there are clear seasons, this can happen in a discrete pattern, leading to what is known as growth rings, as can be seen on the end of a log. A tree increases in diameter by the formation, between the old wood and the inner bark, of new woody layers which envelop the entire stem, living branches, and roots. Wood may be broken down and be made into chipboard, engineered wood, hardboard, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB), paper or used to make other synthetic substances. Construction wood is commonly known as timber in International English, and lumber in American English.

Wood has been an important construction material since humans began building shelters, and remains in plentiful use today. It is also used as a material, for making artworks, boats, buildings, furniture, ships, tools, weapons, etc. One of its primary uses is as fuel. Wood has been used by man for millennia for many purposes, being many things to many people.

. Dry wood is composed of fibers of cellulose (40%–50%) and hemicellulose (20%–30%) held together by lignin (25%–30%). Wood is a hygroscopic, cellular and anisotropic material. In its most common meaning, "wood" is the secondary xylem of a woody plant, but this an approximation only: in the wider sense, wood may refer to other materials and tissues with comparable properties.

Wood from the latter is only produced in small sizes, reducing the diversity of uses. Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs.