G9 



Description of the v/ood 



3apv;ood thin, nearly white; heartwood brownish-red or 

 mahogany colored. ,7ood raoderately hard, medium heavy, mod- 

 erately strong and tough, fine-grained, easily vvcrlied, 

 taking a very good polish, and durable in contact with the 

 soil. Annual rings clearly visible v;ith the unaided eye 

 and marked by a single interrupted row of small pores in 

 the early wood , 



Pores few, rather- large (about ,21 mm. in diameter), 

 round, open in sapwood, sometimes closed with dark brown 

 tyloses in the heartwood, and arranged chiefly singly, 

 sometimes in pairs or short radial rows of from 3 to 4. 

 Vessel walls in contact with ray cells and v/ood-parenchyma 

 fibers, usually with transversely elliptical bordered pits, 

 or sometimes simple; elsevvhere numerous bordered pits. 

 Perforations simple throughout, ,/ood fibers about 1,619 

 mm. long, with thin v/alls, large lumina and small vertical, 

 slit-liice simple pits. ,7ocd-parenchyma fibers fairly nu- 

 merous, scattered irregularly throughout the wood, liays 

 numerous, clearly visible uuder the hand lens, and from 1 

 to 3, occasionally 4 cells, wide, and from 3 to 12 cells 

 high. 



^c 



IHstribution, common names and uses 



Qedrela fissilis has oeen reported from many points be- 

 tween Oascaca in Llexico and the province of Llinas Seraes in 

 Jrazil; it seems to thrive best in the lo'.ver beit and in a 

 semi-arid climate. As to its uses and names, it does not seem 

 to bepracticaily distinguished frum Qedrela mcntana xurcs., 

 and is variously called cedro , cedro dulce , or cedro Colo - 

 rado . In many parts of tropical America, these tv/o species 

 take the place of the spruce and pine of the temperate re- 

 gions and are used extensively for carpenter, joiner and 

 cabinet work. They are imported in large quantities into 

 the United states coming from Central America and the northern 

 coast of Colombia and Venezuela; the bitter Cedrela , cedro 

 amargo ( C. mexicana d. & 6.), is much more valuable as a 

 commercial timber. 



