The xylotheque: over 8,000 species referenced

• More than 35,400 specimens representing more than 8,400 species, around 2,160 genera and 235 botanical families
• Samples from all continents: Africa (45.8%), America (34.5%) Asia (13.4%) Oceania (4.4%) and Europe (1.9%) for a total of 123 tropical and temperate countries.
• Globally, 88% of the samples can be described as tropical woods from tropical or humid forests in Africa, Asia, America and Oceania. The temperate or Mediterranean species represent the remainder
• Most of the samples are in the form of a piece of 13 x 6 x 1 cm. This collection is completed by about 7,000 anatomical slides of the three planes (RT, TL and RL) used for observation and microscopic description of woody planes

This xylotheque is a scientific heritage as well as a tool for research, expertise and training

• The CIRAD collection has made it possible to build determination keys and write reference books in wood anatomy (Normand, Mariaux, Détienne…).
• It is also useful for identification of lumber for commercial purposes, building renovation, justice, culture, history and archeology
• The existence of well-preserved and identified samples makes it possible to test tools for the description of wood, such as image analysis or else near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).
• The collection is of interest for property measurements by non-destructive methods such as adsorption spectra using different light or vibration sources