Cedrela 



MELIACE.E 



219 



when young and after rains a most disagreeable odour. 



As a timber 



it is superior to pitch-pine, and is employed for similar purposes. It is 

 particularly recommended for wainscoting rooms, and for chests and the 

 inside work of clothes' presses and drawers, from the circumstance that 

 vermin are not known to breed in it. This may be ascribed partly to the 

 strong odour it exhales, and also to the bitter taste of the wood itself. . . . 

 One of the principal purposes for which the cedar is employed, is for 

 splitting into shingles to cover houses. They are very durable, and 

 usually last for 15 years" (Macfadyen). In Porto Rico, according to 

 Cook & Collins, the heavier, more compact, and darker coloured variety, 

 called "cedro macho," is preferred to mahogany for the interior of houses; 



D 



Fig. 73 Cedrela odorata L. 



A, Flower X 4. 



B, Ditto with one petal removed ; k, keel 



of petal attached to the ovary. 



C, Ditto cut across, enlarged, showing the 



attachment of the petals and stamens 

 to ovary ; s, filaments ; />, petal. 



D, Capsule with one valve rut away X H, 



showing the central column with -, 

 seeds attached, a, placenta from 

 which seeds have been removed. 



E, "Winded seed, nat. size ; s, position of 



embryo. 



F. Ditto cut lengthwise X - : *'. endo- 



sperm ; c, cotyledon : / , radicle. 



the lighter, less compact, and light coloured [variety, called " cedro 

 hembra," is used extensively in making cigar boxes, as well as for the 

 same purposes as the other variety. The weight is 28 Ibs. to 39 Ibs. per 

 cubic foot. 



'An amber-coloured gum, resembling gum arabici in its properties, 

 may be obtained in considerable quantities, by making incisions in the 

 bark " (Macfadyen). 



This tree is recommended for planting systematically in odd corners 

 of estates ; it grows readily from seeds or cuttings ; fresh posts put into 

 the ground, will grow. 



