ABSTRACT
Despite the many human uses to which various woods are suited, at a fundamental level wood is a complex biological structure, itself a composite of many chemistries and cell types acting together to serve the needs of the plant. Although humans have striven to understand wood in the context of wood technology, we have often overlooked the key and basic fact that wood evolved over the course of millions of years to serve three main functions in plants: the conduction of water from the roots to the leaves, the mechanical support of the plant body, and the storage of biochemicals. The need for these three functions has driven the evolution of approximately 20,000 different extant species of woody plants, each with unique properties, uses, and capabilities, in both plant and human contexts. Understanding the basic requirements dictated by these three functions and identifying the structures in wood that perform them allows insights into the realm of human wood use
(Hoadley 2000). A scientist with a robust understanding of the interrelationships between form and function can predict the usefulness of a specific wood in a new context.
