25 



Oblong, suberaargiiiate , 6 mm. long, the margin ciliate; sta- 

 minodes and stamens 5 each, longer than the petals, the for- 

 mer claviform, the latter barbate belo'w the anthers; pistil 

 stipitate, the ovary wooly villous, 3-ovulate, the style 

 glabrous. Legume 1-seeded, coriaceous, up to E5 am, long 

 and 13 cm. broad; dehiscent; seed bean-shaped, of a shining 

 mahogany color, 18 en. long, 12 cm. broad when largest, 



A gregarious tree, often provided with large buttresses, 

 and the horizontal, almost superficial roots of v/hich run 

 to a great distance. 



Description of the wood 



Sapwcod thick and nearly white; heartwood brown or 

 reddisil brown. Wood very hard, heavy, strong, tough, unu- 

 sually coarse and straight-grained, taking a fairly ^ood 

 polish. It splits and works easily. The annual rings of 

 growth not clearly marked even under the compound micros- 

 cope. 



Pores (transverse section) not numerous, conspicuous 

 (about .16 mm. in diameter), round or elliptical, usually 

 open both in sapwood and heartv/ood, and arranged singly dr 

 in radial rows of two or three. Vessel walls (longitudinal 

 section) with numerous very small round bordered pits, 

 these with slightly transversely elongated openings. The 

 ends of vessel segments nearly horizontal and completely 

 absorbed. «Vood fibers about 1,5 ma. long with rather thick 

 walls and small cell cavities. The pits very minute and 

 oblique slit-like, 7/ood-parenchyraa abundantly developed 

 around the pores and in irregular tangential Uows . The 

 rays from two to four cells wide and from 5 to 20 times as 

 high. 



Distribution, comnon names and uses 



The Panaman Llora is characteristic of the inner tidal 

 belt of the Pacific, where it forms extensive forests, bor- 

 dering at times for miles on the rivers. The natives Pa- 

 namanians calls it alcornoque or cork-tree, a name the 

 reason of which is not clear, since the bark is thin a^id 

 the wood very hard. Prom the seeds they used to extract 

 by infusion a dark red dye. The wood, dark reddish in 



