We review several prominent English language publications on macroscopic wood identification in order to form a list of characters. We compile characters and organize them in the spirit of the IAWA lists for hardwood and softwood microscopic identification, present the
state of the art as it exists, attempt to reconcile the different sets of definitions, characters, and character states, then present our proposed working-list. It is our intent with this publication to open an international discussion regarding the standardization of macroscopic wood identification features, and it is our hope that such a discussion can include critical works from the non-English literature.
