66 



Leaves pariiunnate, the rachis £0 to 30 cm. long, terete, 

 puberalous; leaflets 3 to 4- jugate, inequilateral, suboi^po- 

 site or alternate, the petiolules 5 to 10 mm. long, the 

 blades ovate or ovate-oblong, rounded at the base, rounded- 

 mucronate at the apex, 8 to 14 cm. long, 5 to 6 cm. broad, 

 entire, glabrous and lustrous above, jjaler and more or 

 less iAiberulent beneath, the costa and veins ^-rominent. 

 Kachis of the ^janicle minutely hispidulous. Male flov/ers: 

 sepals 5, suborbicular, about 0.5 mm. long; petals 5, ovate 

 to elliptic, c imn. lont: ; stamens 5; rudimentary carpels 3, 

 Female flowers and fruits not known. 



Description of the v/ood 



Sapwood thick, nearly white; heartwood slightly darker. 

 Wood moderately soft, light in weight, not strong nor Axi- 

 rable, moderately coarse grained and easily worked, not 

 susceptible tc good polish. Annual rings of growth not 

 always definitely definable. 



Pores numerous, rather large (.16 mm. in diametpr) , 

 round, open, and arranged singly or in short radial rows 

 of from 2 U. 4, usually in pairs. Vessel walls in contact 

 with ray cells snd .vood-parenohyma fibers, with numerous 

 small, transversely slit-like, simple pits; v/here two vessels 

 are abutting one an^^ther they have small bcrdered ^vits. 

 feriurations simple. ,.cod fibers about 1.2 mm. long, with 

 thin walls and relatively large cell cavities, and few 

 simple, vertical, slit-like pits. .Vood-^arenchyraa fibers 

 abundantly developed and grouped around the vessels and in 

 more cr less irregular, interrupted tangential rows. These 

 elements are reedily distinguished from the vjcod fibers by 

 their thin walls and lai-ger cell cevities. Rays barely 

 visible under the hand lens, from 1 to 4 or sometimes 5 

 cells wide and from 3 to 6 times as high. 



Distribution, common names and uses 



This tree is known only from its type station in southern 

 Darien, where the Choc5 Indians call it alcabu . There is no 

 information as tc the uses of the wood. 



