218 



Wood-parencliyma appears to be quite absent. The wood-fibres 

 have thick walls and simple pits. The length of the fibres 

 averages rather less than 1 mm., and their diameter 15-20 /a. 



-The bark of the specimen is about 4 mm. thidk. , The cork-cells 

 are thickened on the inner side, and their cavities become nearly 

 or quite obliterated. The secondary phloem includes secretory 

 canals and stone-cells^ but no sclerenchyma-fibres. The secretory 

 canals may reach 50 /x in diameter, but are mostly smaller ; they 

 have a distinct thin-walled epithelium^ and their contents are 

 soluble in alcohol. The stone-cells in the older parts of the 

 secondary' phloem form continuous or nearly continuous zones 

 alternating with soft tissue. In the younger phloem the stone- 

 cells may first appear in rounded groups or tangential bands, 

 which afterwards become united. Numerous cells containing 

 solitary crystals of oxalate of lime become included in the bands 

 of stone-cells. 



There seems to be no reason to doubt that the specimens of West 

 Indian Boxwood mentioned above belong to the same species of 

 tree as do the branches bearing flowers and leaves, and should be 

 referred to Caseari(i praeco.tj Griseb. 



Though Solereder* does not mention the occurrence of secretory 

 canals in Caseariay or in any other member of the family to which 

 Casearia belongs (t,e., Samydaceae of Bentham and Hooker, or 

 the corresponding portion of Flacourtiaceae oi Engler and Prantl), 

 he states that he found secretory cavities in the phloem of one 

 species, viz., Casearia grandiflora. Van Tieghem,t moreover, 

 in describing the secretory cavities of the Samydaceae, states that 

 in the stem (in Samyda) they are more or less strongly elongated, 

 and resemble secretory canals. From these statements it appears 

 probable that the secretory canals found in the specimens under 

 consideration are not altogether exceptional for the Samydaceae ; 

 at any rate the phloem of one other species of Casearia, viz. C. 

 tomentosa, Roxb., possesses secretory canals like those of 

 C- praeco.r, • ' 



The samples of wood from the Maracaibo district appear to be 

 identical with several specimens of West Indian Boxwood in the 

 mugeum at Kew. Two of these are pieces prepared for wood- 

 engraving, and presented by Mr. E. J. Scott, of 8, Wbitefriars, 

 E.C., one in 186T, the other in 1880. The latter bears a note that 

 the donor reported on this wood : " It is the only likely successor 

 to boxwood I have yet seen.'' The other specimens are as follows. 

 A block of wood, a rough and a finished stick and handle for a 

 Rimshade presented by Messrs. Henry Howell and Co., 180, Old 

 Street, E,C., in 1888; a butter-clapper (^^ Scotch hand '■') made at 

 Chesham (Mr. James Howard, Chesham, 1889); a section of the 

 stem from Maracaibo (Messrs. Joshua Gardner and Sons, 1909) ; 

 two safliples of Yeneziielan Boxwood sent by H.M. Minister at 

 Caracas in 1912; and a number of specimens illustrating the 

 manufacture of butter-clappers, etc., presented in 1912 by Messrs. 

 Thomas Wright and Sons, Steam Mills, Chesham, w'here the 

 Articles were made. 



'■ 



.f. • Solereder, Syst. Auat. oF Dicotyledons (En^. edition), voL i; p.;377. 

 t Van Tieghem, Cananx Secr^teurs des Plantes, Annales des Sci. iNat- 



Bofc. 7 ser. t. 1, p. 59. v 



