Aniionaoeae 

 ghe Panaman Desmopsia 

 Desmopsls paiiamensis {Robinson) Saffcrd 



Description of the tree 



A small tree, 4 to 8 m. high, symmetrical in habit, the 

 trunk erect, continuous, covered with smooth, brownish gray- 

 bark, the branching radiate, the cro.vn pyramidal. Leaves al- 

 ternate, distichous, submerabranoiis , the petioles short, the 

 blades elliptic or oblong, acute at the base, short-acuminate, 

 10 to 20 cmt long, 3 to 7 cm. broad, glabrous above, rufous- 

 pubescent beneath, the more so on the prominent veins. 

 Flowers usually paired, the common peduncle, issuing opposite 

 of one leaf, short, thick, provided at the end v/ith a sabor- 

 bicular, cordate, foliaceous bract, the pedicels long and 

 slender; calyx small, 3-partite, the segments ovate- triangu- 

 lar; petals 6, greenish yellow, nearly erect, the margins 

 revolute, the tix^s inf lexed ; receptacle himispherical or 

 convex; stamens numerous, short, cuneate, the pollen- sacks 

 parallel, capped by their crowded, hexagonal, expanded con- 

 nectives; carpels 5 to 12, densely covered with minute dark 

 brown stiff hairs. Pruit borne on a short stipe, oblong, 

 long, 10 mm. in diameter, slightly torulose or marked by 

 rings corresponding to the seeds within; seeds 6 to 8, dis- 

 coid, grooved on the edge. 



Description of the v/ood 



Sapwood usually wide, dark brown; heartwood somewhat 

 darker. V7ood hard, heavy, very strong, straight-grained, 

 easily worked, taking a fine polish, and durable in contact 

 with soil. The wood has a fishy odor. Annual rings of growth 

 very narrow and visible only under the high power microscope. 



Pores very numerous, minute (about .03 mm. in diameter), 

 round when solitary, open in sapwood, bat generally closed in 

 heartwood and arranged singly, in radial rows or in small 

 irregular groups of from a few to 6 or more. Vessel walls 

 (longitudinal section} v/ith numerous small bordered pits. 

 Perforations simple, circular or elliptical. .Vood fibers 



1) Unona panamensis liobinson, Am. Jcurn. 3c. Ill: 175. 1895. 



