53 



more or less pubescent above, paler, dull, and pubescent 

 near the base and aloiie" the ccsta beneath, 3 to 6 cm. long, 

 1.5 to 2 cm. broad, i' lowers not kno./n. Legume glabroas, 

 saoarra-liice , stipitate, oblanceolate , 11 to 11.5 cm. long, 

 about 'c.5 cm. broad, the basal part flat and membranous, 

 the seed-bearing apex, thicker, woody, rounded and apiculate; 

 peduncle 2 cm. long; stioe 1.2 cm.; seed obovate, elongate, 

 ^bout 18 mm. long- and 8 mm. broad, the hilum near the 

 narrov/est end. 



Description of the wood 



Sapwood thin, light greenish yellcw; heartwcod somewhat 

 darker, V/ood hard, heavy, very tough, exceedingly close 

 grained, taking a good polish. The wood has a green, pea- 

 like odor. Annual rings of growth narrow and visible to the 

 unaided eye on a smooth transverse section. 



Pores numerous, small (.10 mm. in diameter), round, 

 chiefly Oi^en, and arranged either singly or in short radial 

 rows of from 2 to 5 or more. Vessel v/alls with numerous 

 small bordered pits vi^here in contact with ijith rays and 

 wood-parenchyma fibers, iordered pits lai'ge where two 

 vessels abutt on each other, jind v/alls of vessel segments 

 horizontal and ocmpletely absorbed. Vood fibers about 1.08 

 mm. long, with relatively thick walls and small cell cavi- 

 ties. Pits very small, slit-like and oblique, or nealy 

 parallel to the axis of the fiber, '.7ood-parenchyma fibers 

 arranged in tai^ential linos of from 1 to 2 rows of cells 

 v/ide. This tissue does not surround vessels, and is common 

 in mc^st of the leguminous '.voods. They are easily recognized 

 by thin walls and large cell cavities in a transverse sec- 

 tion. Pith rays very narrow, from 1 to 3 cells wide, and 

 the Space betv/een them is narrower than the diameter of the 

 vessels. 



Distribution, com^aon names and uses 



This tree is known only from Panama, where it v/as first 

 collected by Hayes, between Gorgona and Liataohin. In >-hi- 

 riqui, it is frequent and apparently gregarious in the lower 

 forest belt a short distance from the sea. It goes under 

 the name of carcuera and the wood is not used to any extent, 

 because the mature trunlcs are almost always found to be 



