Poplar wood properties: Characterization of performances of current cultivars and evaluation of possible early prediction

For ten years, numerous studies have been carried out in France on the properties of poplar wood, both by research institutes, technical centers, and in close collaboration with industry. Thus, the wood of 23 cultivars, representing the most cultivated poplars in France, has been characterized from a large and structured sample of mature trees (multi-sites and multi-trees per site). Characterization focused on the general properties of logs and wood, as well as major industrial uses of wood. The mechanical characteristics of the sawings and their drying behavior, suitability for peeling and characterization of the plywood, pulping and the shape of the fibers have been described. The results are presented in two publications widely available*, either with a “cultivar” entry describing all the characteristics measured on a cultivar or with an entry “characteristics of wood” where performances of the different cultivars are compared between them. Furthermore the GIS Peuplier (French scientific consortium) studied the properties of 55 clones of poplar (P. deltoides and P. x canadensis) from samples of juvenile wood (2 and 4 years) and mature wood (21-27 years). Correlations between variables were investigated for different ages of wood. The best correlations with adult performances concerned basic density and fiber width, and to a lesser extent, shrinkage of the wood samples measured at 4-yrs. These results should enable breeders to include these wood properties predictors in the first steps of their breeding program.