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The Ghlrican Copaiba-Tree 

 Copaifera chiriquensis Pittier 



Description of the tree 



a large tree, ap to aboat 30 m. high and 1.20 m. in 

 diameter, with a rouaided-depressed Grown, and a reddish, 

 densely verruoose bark. Leaves glabroas, 5 to ll-foliate, 

 pari- or imoa rip innate, the I'achis terete, slender, 5 to 

 15 cm. long; leaflets briefly petiolulate, alternate except- 

 ing sometimes the terminal pair, the blades strongly obli- 

 que, elliptic-lanceolate, rounded at the base, ©ore or less 

 abruptly acuminate with an obtuse tip, sparsely transpa- 

 rent dotted, 2.5 to 5.5 cm. long, 2 to 2.5 cm. broad. 

 Flowers not known. Legume almost sessile, briefly stipi- 

 tate, orbiculate, depressed, 1-seeded, 2.3 cm. in diameter; 

 seed o\roid, about 12 mn. long and 3 mm. in diameter, black 

 And lustrous. 



In his Flora of Panama, 3eemann mentions a Copaifera 

 officinalis collected by V/arszewicz in the same region and 

 which is identical either with the above species or with 

 G. persimilis Pittier, described also from eastern Ghiriqui. 

 Both Species differ from the true G. oflic i nalis IL.) Willd. 

 u-W-^v in the number of leaflets; in Copaifera chiriquensis the 



pods are small and orbicular; in G. persimilis the pods are 

 very similar to those of C. officinalis out the leaflets 

 are imi^a rip innate and 5 to 7-jugate instead of paripinnate 

 and 2 to 4- jugate. 



Description of the wood 



Sapwood thick, light brown; heartwood darker. Wood mo- 

 derately soft and light in weight, not strong, straight and 

 coarse-grained, not taking a very good polish. Annual rings 

 of growth not evident; the conspicuous tangential bands of 

 wood-parenchyma fibers are not indicative of annual layers 

 of growth, because these lines frequently meet or disappear 

 abruptly. 



Pores (transverse section) rather numerous, large (.13 



