Tension wood cellulose content

Tension wood differs less from normal wood than compression wood. It contains thick-walled fibers, terminated towards the lumen by a gelatinous layer (Fig. 1-19). This so-called G layer consists of pure and highly crystalline cellulose oriented in the same direction as the fiber axis. For this reason the cellulose content of tension wood is higher and the lignin content lower than in normal wood. 

The salient features of tension wood are summarized in Table II. Most notable are the increased volume of fibers, the high cellulose content, low lignin content, and the special wall architecture of tension wood fibers. 

The extra cellulose content of tension wood tissue is most commonly due to the presence of fiber G-layers. However, the layers themselves are not really gelatinous. On the contrary, they are quite highly crystalline, and this fact, together with the axial orientation of their microfibrils, renders this layer easily distorted in the horizontal plane (i.e., normal to the fiber axis). 

Tension wood is characterized by increased cellulose content and increased density. Sawn surfaces appear... 

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