Fig. 2

Sampling protocols for mechanical characterisations. a Half of the stems were used for the macroscopic three-point bending test (red segment). The other stems were used for microscopic characterisation at the tissue level: 70-mm-long segments were used for Charpy impact tests (yellow segment), while 50-mm-long segments were used for micro-bending tests (blue segment). b Localisation of millimetric beams in the three areas of interest of the transversal cross-section. TFW (resp. CFW) stands for wood formed under tensile (resp. compressive) treatments. N stands for wood formed in the neutral area of the stem, i.e. where strains were theoretically the lowest. c Milling of the 2 × 2 mm² (cross section) millimetric beams using a sample holder specially designed for this purpose