Wood strength values are calculated based on the characteristic value, which corresponds to the 5 % percentile of a given probability distribution model. For a few number of samples (12 samples), the Brazilian standard ABNT NBR (7190) establishes an estimator of the characteristic compressive strength parallel to grain of the wood, which may provide a different result when compared with the characteristic value coming from a suitable probability distribution model. Considering the strength results in the parallel compression to the grain of 45 wood species of the hardwood group, Normal, LogNormal, Weibull and Exponential probability distribution models were used for each specie with the purpose of determining the one with the highest adhesion. Calculated the characteristic values by the best probability model distribution, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed in the estimation of the characteristic value of compressive strength, making it possible to identify the most significant terms of the models as well as the quality of the adjustment obtained on such models. The proposed regression model (R2 adj= 96,56 %) proved to be equivalent to the empirical model of the Brazilian standard. The model proposed here only depends on the mean and the lowest value obtained from the compressive strength in the parallel direction to the grain.