72 



Coefficient of elasticity ^ 755 tons per square inch. 



Direct cohesion in pounds per square inch == 10,000- 14,700. 



Cohesion compared with oak as 1 = 1.3-1.9. 



In India, where the tree is common, the wood is used for cab- 

 inet work, machinery, railway ties, and spars. In Polynesia and 

 the Hawaiian Islands it was employed chiefly in the making of 

 the beautiful wooden bowls or calabashes, umcke. These were 

 hand-made, with stone tools, and involved great skill and long 

 periods of labor for their completion. The art is today extinct 

 in Hawaii. A genuine hand-made Hawaiian umcke of kamani 

 wood has a sales-value of anywhere from S25 to $300_, depending 

 upon its size and condition. 



The foliage-bearing twigs are .4-.6 inch in diameter, and 12-24 

 inches long, with smooth green w^axy bark, which turns to brown- 

 ish. -The lenticels are microscopic and practically invisible. On 

 most of the twigs the leaves are terminal, and the basal part of 

 the twig is bare; the terminal cluster comprises 10-20 leaves. 

 Rapidly-growing new shoots, however, may be clad with leaves 

 throughout their length. 



The kamani leaves persist for several years (2-4 years). The 

 bare portion of the twig is conspicuously marked by the petiole 

 scars. These are oblate, .25 inch in diameter, corky, with a cen- 

 tral crescent of fibro-vascular bundle scars. There are no stip- 

 ular scars or stipules. The lateral buds and flower cluster scars 

 are small and inconspicuous. The terminal bud is .25 inch long, 

 sharply pointed, conical, chocolate-brown, and consisting of sev- 

 eral pairs of minute conduplicate leaves. 



The leaves are opposite and stand nearly at right angles to 

 the twig. They are 4-8 inches long and 3-4 inches broad. The 

 petiole is about 1 inch long, round or somewhat flattened, green 

 or yellowish green, and tough. Both at its base and at its junc- 

 tion with the blade it possesses well-defined motile or growth- 

 areas (pulvini) for the orientation of the blade with reference 

 to the light. 



The blade is glabrous, smooth and shining on both faces, thick 

 and coriaceous, entire, broadly oblong or ovate, and with rounded 

 or emarginate apex, and rounded base. Its color is rich dark 

 green, often turning to yellow upon senility. The midrib and 

 marginal vein are bright yellow-green, contrasting with the dark 

 glossy green of the blade. The blade is finely and closely-veined 

 at right angles to the midrib. In recent years and in the vicinity 

 of Honolulu the kamani foliage is often more or less infested 

 with mealy-bugs and various fungi. The latter produce discol- 

 ored brown dead areas in the blade. In general, however, the 

 kamani foliage is remarkably clean and vigorous. The Hawai- 

 ians used the leaves medicinally, tearing them up in small pieces, 

 soaking the fragments in water over night, and then using the 

 liquid for washing inflamed eyes. 



The flowers and fruit are in axillary clusters among the ter- 

 minal leaves. Flowers and fruit are produced almost continu- 



