Images obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) helped to clarify the question as to how anatomy influences the deformation on compression and the spring-back of densified wood on water soaking. Transverse sections of Norway spruce (Picea abies), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), black alder (Alnus glutinosa), Swedish aspen (Populus tremula), European birch (Betula pubescens), European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) were studied. Wood is reinforced with rays in the radial direction and with dense latewood in the tangential direction. When strained radially, rays buckle or tilt tangentially. Softwoods were mainly compressed radially, owing to low number of rays and since latewood is much denser than earlywood. The diffuse-porous hardwoods with low density variation between latewood and earlywood were mainly deformed tangentially, except birch, which has high density at the annual ring border and is mainly compressed radially. The ringporous hardwoods were relatively equally deformed in the radial and tangential directions because of the high number of rays and high latewood density. Moisture-induced springback (shape recovery) was proportional to the degree of compression. Rays remained deformed, which also influenced the surrounding wood. Longitudinal wood cells almost resumed their original shape. Wood with low density and a low degree of compression showed the highest structural recovery. Shearing deformation was particularly pronounced and permanent in woods with high strength anisotropy. Thin-walled and sheared cells, such as earlywood in softwood, tended to crack on compression. Cracks usually stopped at the middle lamella and had a lesser influence on strength properties than for lumen-to-lumen cracks. Copyright