What made suitable timber for sailing-ship masts

Did navies prefer particular kinds of wood for ship masts?

Yes; they favored long, straight, seasoned, knot-free pine, spruce, or fir, supplemented by carefully built-up construction.

Pine, spruce, and fir offered the straight grain and long clear sections needed for strong masts. Builders sought seasoned heartwood without knots or other defects that could create a weak point under sail. Ash, maple, or sassafras might appear in some applications, but the central requirement was a long and reliably straight spar. Laminated, built-up, or hollow construction let shipwrights create the needed dimensions when one perfect tree was unavailable. Material selection and fabrication method jointly determined mast strength rather than species alone.