65 



tely hard and light in weight, wavy and fine grained, mottled, 

 easily worked, taking a very good iJOlish, and durable in 

 contact with soil. Annaal rings of growth narrow and visible 

 under hand lens on a smooth transverse section. 



Pi^res very nuiaerous, rather saiail ( ,0^ mm. in diameter), 

 round or when in rov/s usually comj^ressed radially, o^^en or 

 more often closed both in sa^jwood and in heartwood, arranged 

 singly or often in radial rows cf from 2 to 5. Vessel walls 

 with numerous small simple or bordered pits. Perforations 

 simple. iVood fibers about 1.5 mm. long, with thin -/alls 

 and relatively large liimina and small vertical simple pits, 

 ./ood-parenchyma not very strongly developed, and ^.resent 

 usually around vessels, es^jecially at the beginning of the 

 grov/th layer. Rays numerous, small, hardly visible under 

 hand lens on a smooth transverse section; from 1 to 2 roy;s 

 of cells wide and from 10 to 25 cells high. 



Distribution, common names and uses 



The common satin wood is sparingly distributed throughout 

 all Central America, from southern x^exico to Darien and also 

 in the three larger Antilles, Cuba, Santo Domingo and Jamaica. 

 Although its wood is very valuable, it does not seem to be 

 well known to the natives in Panama. In oouth-Darien (Panama) 

 it is called ruda , and used wherever a hard wood is required. 



The Jarien Satin-'.Vood ?ree 



^anthAxylum rittieri P. V/ilson, Gontr. U.o. iJat. Herb, 



20: 479. 1922. 



Description of the tree 



A tree 20 ra. high or more and 30 to 40 cm. in diameter, 

 the trunk erect, the grayish brown bark mere or less co- 

 vered with suberous cushions, ending in a sharp prickle; 



crown elongate, densely ramified; branchlets glabrous, prickly 



