Fiber Length Variation in the Bole of an Eccentric Sweetgum Tree

A sweetgum tree leaning at an angle of 20 degrees had notably eccentric growth. Fiber length was not reduced by the presence of tension wood on the upper side. On both maximum and minimum radii and at all heights, fiber length increased rapidly for a distance of 10 cm or more from the pith, reached a maximum, and then decreased slowly. A general hyperbolic equation based on linear and quadratic effects of distance from the pith accounted for some 98 percent of the total variation in fiber length. Forest Sci. 17:186-189.