This site includes descriptions and imagery of nearly 60 species of common, and not-so-common, lumber species found throughout the U.S. and Canada. This is the third edition of this site containing nearly twice as many species, higher resolution imagery and more in-depth descriptions of each species. When I first put this site together more than a  decade ago, its purpose was to exist as a resource for students in forestry who needed to learn to identify wood as part of their curriculum. Over the years, I began fielding questions from a more diverse  audience  worldwide including wood workers, carpenters, sawmill managers, historical societies, and archeologists. For this reason, I decided to revise and expand this site. It has been designed to serve both the amateur and experienced person in identifying unknown wood specimens. Whether you are a student, woodworker, scientist, or a layperson with a need to identify wood, I hope you will find this site useful.  To learn how to most effectively use this site, please go to the Getting Started section.