58 



to dark brovm. 'yVood hard, heavy, strong?, tough, difficult 

 to split, more or less close-grained, taking a good polish. 

 Annual rings of growth usually not clearly visible; the con- 

 centric iJings of lighter and darker shades do not coincide 

 with annual growth rings. 



Pores (transverse section) numerous, moderately large 

 though variable (about .13 mm. in diameter), nearly round, 

 open or more often closed with a reddish cellular tissue and 

 arranged singly cccasionally in pairs. Vessel walls (lon- 

 gitudinal section) marked by many rather large bordered pits; 

 all vessels in mature wood from the trunk comijletely surrounded 

 by v/ood parenchyma fibers. Perforations at the ends of vessel 

 segments simple, //cod fibers about 1.1 mm. long with thick 

 walls and small cell cavities; the simple slit-like pits 

 very small. 7/ood parenchyma fibers highly developed aroixnd 

 the vessels, sometimes forming short tangential bands be- 

 tween the pores as seen in a smooth transverse section. 

 Rays one or rarely two cells-wide and up to ten cells high, 

 very numerous, storied and barely visible to the unaided eye 

 on a smooth tangential surface. 



Distribution, comiaon names and uses 



The quira is limited in its diSi^ersion to the semi-arid 

 districts of nbrthern Venezuela and Colombia, and to the 

 foot hills 01 zhe i-acifio coast from Panama to Nicaragua. 



3g sides the name of (Uiira , used in Panama and evidently 

 borrowed from some native dialect, the Brunica or Bcruca In- 

 dians call it sinkra , ivhile their neighbors the T^rraba 

 know it as zrok . In Venezuela it is inaccurately designed 

 as roble bianco or "'white oak". The wood is highly esteemed 

 among the natives, being used to a limited extent in the 

 making of furniture. 



It is often mentioned among the local joiners and cabi- 

 net makers of Panama and Costa xtioa as one of the hardest, 

 finest grained and most beautifully variegated v/oods of 

 these countries. Notwithstanding this and the fact tiiat 

 the tree seems to be comparatively common along the Pacific 

 coast, tiuira-wood very seldom reaches our northern markets. 

 It deserves, however, to be better known, on account of its 

 possible applications. 



