Commercial timbers

H. G. Richter and M. J. Dallwitz


Authors

H. G. Richter (wood structure)

Institute for Wood Biology and Wood Protection, Leuschnerstrasse 91, 21031 Hamburg, Germany
Phone: +49 40 73962410. Fax: +49 40 428912835. Email: hrichter@holz.uni-hamburg.de

M. J. Dallwitz (computing)

CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
Phone +61 2 62464075. Fax +61 2 6246 4000. Email: md@ento.csiro.au

Introduction

This database contains descriptions and an interactive identification system for hardwood taxa common in the international trade that occur in all major forest regions of the world. The package is designed primarily for use by researchers in wood and forest science, and educational facilities active in teaching wood anatomy and wood identification.

The package has been elaborated and is being maintained at the Federal Research Centre for Forestry and Forest Products, Hamburg, Germany, in form of a DELTA database (Dallwitz 1980, Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher 1993 onwards). It was created with the intent to facilitate identification of trade timbers and information retrieval about their wood structure for use by individuals and institutions who do not dispose of a large institutional wood collection.

The database contains at present the coded descriptions of approximately 340 taxa (trade timbers). The character list and accompanying character notes adhere to the IAWA List of Microscopic Features for Hardwood Identification (IAWA 1989). The illustration of characters is nearly complete, that of the included taxa only to about 20%. Hence, the version distributed is, and will remain for some time to come, a test version which does not claim to be ‘complete’ (it probably will never be). Work on the taxon illustrations will continue and new taxa will be added to the database as need arises and time permits.

Identification and interrogation of the data can be conducted in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish. The French language version is, however, still incomplete as most of the comments in the database have not been translated yet. The default language is English in these cases.

The interactive identification and information retrieval package uses the program Intkey (Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher 1995 onwards, 1998). It provides convenient and flexible access to most of the information in the DELTA database. It is not necessary to register the program for use with these data.

Disclaimer

CSIRO Australia and the Federal Research Centre for Forestry and Forest Products, Hamburg, and their employees, shall not be liable for any loss, damage, or injury (including without limitation any loss of profit, indirect, consequential, or incidental loss, damage, or injury) arising from the use of the programs or data.

Citation

Cite this publication as: H. G. Richter and M. J. Dallwitz (2000 onwards). 'Commercial timbers: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval.' In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th May 2000. http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/.

Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993 onwards, 1995 onwards, 1998) should also be cited (see References).


Index