444 FOXWORTHY. 



PALM.E. 



Many palms have stems which, at Least in their outer part, arc very 

 hard and strong. Those palm stems are admirably suited for certain 



uses, as the flooring of native houses, the fashioning of \n)w> and carrying 

 poles, the making of ornamental pillars, etc. In Borneo the nibong palm 

 (Om osperma Bpp.) is the chief flooring material for both houses and 

 boats. Several species of Livistona are used in the Philippines under the 

 name of palina brava. The use of palm stems is usually purely local, 

 although occasionally small amounts are sent to Europe for use in cabinet 

 work. Because of the comparative in frequence of their commercial use 

 and because thei r st ructure is of the type so well known in monocotyledons, 

 it is not necessary to further consider them here. 



GRAMINE^E. 



Bamboos of various sorts are the main reliance in many kinds of native 

 structures, but their use is local. It is not customary to raise them for 

 export, and their structure is very generally recognized. 



DICOTYLEDONS. 



CASUAKINACE/E. 



Sapwood and heartwood not sharply differentiated, the color becoming 

 gradually darker from sap to heart. Vessels moderately large, and often 

 in radial or oblique rows. Wavy, concentric lines of wood parenchyma. 

 Pith-rays small to very large; the large ones of very infrequent occurrence 

 in Casunrina e guise ti folia, but very general in the other species. Wood 

 fibers very thick-walled and making up most of the mass of the wood. 



Casuarina equisetifolia Pont. Plate XXII. fig. 3. Agoho (Phil.); ru (Bor- 

 neo, Malaya) ; cliouk (Tarn.) ; tinyu ( Burma) ; iromvood. 



On sandy shores throughout the eastern tropics, where its resemblance 

 in habit to the pines and firs makes it very marked. 



Very hard and heavy or very heavy: difficult to work. Sapwood and 

 heartwood differing in color only in degree of brown. A very durable 

 construction timber and, perhaps, the best firewood in the world. 



Phil. Woods 370, fig. 88; Gard. 68; Gamb. 665; Boulg. 23;?; Blita 12, i* :-! 25; 

 Wiesner 2:875-879; Becc. 583. 



Casual inn mi mat ran a Miq. (ru ronan (M.), iromvood), and other spi'cies are 

 occasionally found in the Orient. They differ from the preceding in having very 

 large and distinct pith-rays. They are, consequently, better suited for cabinet 

 work. 



Blita 13; Bargagli-Petrucci !). tab. IV; Becc. 588. 



