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Boring
Carving
Common Names
Common Uses
Countries of Distribution
Cutting Resistance
Distribution Overview
Drying Defects
Ease of Drying
Environmental Profile
Family Name
Gluing
Grain
Heartwood Color
Kiln Drying Rate
Kiln Schedules
Luster
Natural Durability
Numerical Data
Odor
Planing
Polishing
Product Sources
References
Regions of Distribution
Resistance to Impregnation
Response to Hand Tools
Sanding
Sapwood Color
Scientific Name
Screwing
Staining
Texture
Trade Name
Tree Size
Turning
Veneering Qualities
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Common Names
American holly, Dune holly, Holly, Hummock Holly, Scrub holly, White holly
Regions of Distribution
North America
Countries of Distribution
[VIEW MAP]
United States
Common Uses
Broom handles, Carvings, Chairs, Chests, Concealed parts (Furniture), Desks, Dining-room furniture, Dowell pins, Dowells, Drawer sides, Engraving, Fine furniture, Fixtures, Floor lamps, Furniture , Furniture components, Furniture squares or stock, Handles, Hatracks, Kitchen cabinets, Living-room suites, Novelties, Office furniture, Radio - stereo - TV cabinets, Rustic furniture, Scientific instruments, Shafts/Handles, Stools, T-Squares, Tables , Tool handles, Turnery, Utility furniture, Wardrobes, Woodwork
Environmental Profile
| Vulnerable in parts of its habitat and may soon become Endangered if current trends of over-exploitation and habitat destruction persist |
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| Rank of relative endangerment based on number of occurences globally. |
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| May be rare in some parts of its range |
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| Generally widespread, secure, and abundant within most of its range |
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| Data source is World Conservation Monitoring Center |
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| Data source is Nature Conservancy |
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Distribution Overview
| From the maritime forests of Massachusetts, American holly is scattered along the coast to Delaware. It grows inland to several Pennsylvania counties and to extreme southeastern Ohio. It occurs abundantly southward throughout the Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Appalachians. Its range extends south to mid-peninsular Florida and west to eastern Texas and southern Missouri |
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Heartwood Color
| Brown |
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| Red |
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| White |
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| Yellow |
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| Black |
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| Pink |
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| Orange |
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The color of the heartwood is very white or ivory-white, and is usually cast or streaked with blue
Sapwood Color
| White |
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| Yellow |
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| Brown |
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| Red |
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| Green/Grey |
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| Very wide |
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Usually whiter than the heartwood
Grain
Devoid of any figure
Texture
Luster
Natural Durability
| Susceptible to insect attack |
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| Non-durable |
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| Non-resistant to powder post beetles |
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| Perishable |
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| Non-resistant to termites |
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| Little or no natural resistance to insect and fungi attack |
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Odor
| No specific smell or taste |
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Kiln Schedules
| 6 - D4 (4/4); T4 - C3 (8/4) U |
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Drying Defects
| Checking |
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| Splitting |
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| Distortion |
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The wood may distort slightly and discolor during drying, but other drying degrades are minimal.
Ease of Drying
| Moderately Difficult to Difficult |
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| Fairly Easy |
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| Rapidly |
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The wood should be dried at a fairly rapid rate to avoid discoloration. Harvesting and converting in the winter or before the hot weather is suggested to retain the white color
Kiln Drying Rate
Tree Size
| Tree height is 20-30 m |
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| Bole length is 10-20 m |
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| Sapwood width is 0-5 cm |
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| Sapwood width is 10-15 cm |
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| Sapwood width is 5-10 cm |
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| Tree height is 30-40 m |
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| Bark width is 5-10 mm |
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This evergreen tree, which is very popular during Cristmas holidays because of its red berries and leaves, is the state tree of Delaware. It is usually small
Product Sources
Supplies of Holly are limited because the mature tree is usually small in size. The leaves and berries of Holly are also very popular which discourages its harvesting for lumber purposes.
Boring
Slow speeds are recommended in boring to prevent the wood from charring
Carving
Found desirable by carvers
Cutting Resistance
Gluing
Planing
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Very Good to Excellent Results |
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Difficult to work in most machining operations because of irregular grain
Resistance to Impregnation
| Permeable sapwood |
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| Permeable heartwood |
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Treatable or impregnable, but preservative treatment is usually not required because of its uses.
Response to Hand Tools
Sanding
The wood responds well to sanding with the proper abrasives
Screwing
| Good screw holding properties |
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Turning
Veneering Qualities
| Suitable for peeling |
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| Veneers easily |
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| Veneers moderately easy |
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| Suitable for slicing |
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| No drying degrade |
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Polishing
| Very Good to Excellent Results |
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| Fair to Good Results |
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| Works to a high glaze |
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| Good results |
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Staining
| Stains well and uniformly |
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Sometimes stained to match other wood species. It is also dyed black occasionally and used as a substitute for Ebony.
Numerical Data
| Item | Green | Dry | English |
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| Specific Gravity | 0.46 | 0.53 | |
| Weight | 54 | 38 | lbs/ft3 |
| Radial Shrinkage | 5 | | % |
| Tangential Shrinkage | 10 | | % |
| Volumetric Shrinkage | 17 | | % |
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| Item | Green | Dry | Metric |
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| Specific Gravity | 0.46 | 0.53 | |
| Weight | 865 | 608 | kg/m3 |
| Radial Shrinkage | 5 | | % |
| Tangential Shrinkage | 10 | | % |
References
Boone, R.S., C.J. Kozlik, P.J. Bois, E.M. Wengert. 1988. Dry Kiln Schedules for Commercial Hardwoods - Temperate and Tropical. USDA, Forest Service, General Technical Report FPL-GTR-57, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
Kline, M. 1978. Ilex opaca - American holly. In A Guide to Useful Woods of the World. Flynn Jr., J.H., Editor. King Philip Publishing Co., Portland, Maine. Page 192-193.
Little, E.L. 1980. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees - Eastern Region. Published by Arthur A. Knopf, New York.
Panshin, A.J. and C. deZeeuw. Textbook of Wood Technology. McGraw-Hill Series in Forest Resources. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.
USDA. 1987. Wood Handbook - Wood as an Engineering Material, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Agriculture Handbook No. 72, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
USDA. 1988. Dry Kiln Operators Manual, Preliminary Copy. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
WCMC. 1992. Conservation Status Listing - Trees and Timbers of the World. World Conservation Monitoring Center-Plants Programme, Cambridge, CB3 ODL, United Kingdom.
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