The secret stories of trees are written in the knots and swirls of your floorboards. An expert explains how to read them

By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Have you ever examined timber floorboards and pondered why they look the way they do? Perhaps you admired the super-fine grain, a stunning red hue or a swirling knot, and wondered how it came to be?

Or perhaps you don’t know what tree species your floorboards are made from, and how to best look after them?

Finely polished floorboards reveal detail about the timber that can be much harder to detect in unpolished boards or other sawn timbers.

“Reading” the knots, stubs and other characteristics of floorboards can reveal what type of tree produced it and how it…

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