RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ANATOMY AND DRYING IN Eucalyptus grandis X Eucalyptus urophylla WOOD

Drying is an important step to using wood and anatomical characteristics influence this process. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the relationship between anatomy and wood drying. Samples with 2 x 2 x 4 cm were obtained from eight Eucalyptus urophylla x Eucalyptus grandis clones at 1.3 m height to evaluate the anatomy and drying in climate chamber during 15 days. Cell wall fraction was established as the parameter that best correlated with drying, the Pearson correlation coefficient between this parameter and moisture was -0.8986, -0.6580, 0.9216, 0.8743, 0.7131 and 0.8727 for saturated wood, and after 1, 2.5, 5, 10 and 15 days of drying, respectively. The frequency and vessel size, as well as the height and width of the rays showed low relation with wood drying. Wood anatomy, mainly the cell wall fraction, influences moisture losses and should be considered in wood drying programs.