Longitudinal change of the green moisture content in the stem of Cryptomeria japonica D. Don

The longitudinal changes of the green moisture content in the stems of Cryp tomeria japonica D. Don were investigated with 19 cultivars, three individu al trees per cultivar. Seven disks were collected from each sample tree at intervals along the stems. Mean moisture contents of the sapwood. the heart wood, and the white zone (the intermediate wood) of each sample disk were o btained with two kinds of moisture content, i.e., the moisture content base d on oven dry weight (M-c) and the ratio of;Me against the maximum moisture content after saturated with water (M-s). Larger variations among trees and disks were obtained for M-c and M-s in th e heartwood than in the sapwood and the white zone. The ranges of M-c and M -s in the heartwood were from 46 to 254% and from 20 to 95%, respectively. In general, the moisture content of the heartwood changed longitudinally al ong the stem. Changing patterns of the moisture content in the longitudinal direction varied among trees. Seven types of changing pattern could be giv en for sample trees. The changing patterns were similar among individual tr ees of the same cultivar, but not among cultivars.