This book is not concerned directly with wood identification, although ability to recognize the wood features discussed in the preceding chapters is essential for work in wood identification. The present chapter is concerned with how wood characters have been and can be used in taxonomic and phylogenetic studies - and also which wood characters are likely or not likely to be useful, in general. In wood identification, a match of an unknown wood with known woods is usually attempted. In systematic application of wood data, similari ties and differences among species, genera, and families are...