Contrast of early-and-latewood traits
All five pairs of traits showed significant phylogenetic signals (Table 1). The average tangential and radial diameter of tracheid in earlywood was larger than these of latewood, and tracheid length was higher in latewood than in earlywood within a phylogenetic context. However, tangential and radial wall thickness of tracheids did not differ significantly between earlywood and latewood when taking phylogeny into account (Table 1). Pics of maximum plant height were not significantly (p>0.05) related to any of the five pairs of traits, and therefore, plant height was excluded in subsequent analyses.