<p>The objective of this research was to characterize the anatomy of the wood of the Washingtonia palm and determine its density and hardness along the trunk radius. Characterization was performed by X-ray computed tomography and hardness tests. Results shows that Washingtonia palm wood is composed of three main elements: fibrovascular bundles, vessels, and parenchymal tissue. The fibrovascular bundles generate greater density and more heterogeneus wood. The density and hardness increase significantly in the transverse direction from the central part of the trunk toward the periphery. This is because the volume fraction of fiborvascular bundles diminishes in the center of the images, leading to a higher volume fraction of porosity. In spite of that, permeability is three times larger throughout the vascular bundles than in the parenchymal tissue. The lower density, in particular of the parenchymal tissue suggest that the center wood could be used for acoustic isolation.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>