74 



This tree, which had been distinguished by Illotzsch 

 under the name of Ciajjia-a moritzianum , has a ^jecaliar ai-^jea- 

 rance not unlike thst of certain willows. On the niargins 

 of the leaves are nximerous hydathodes, or water-decretin^j 

 organs, which appear at irregular intervals in the shape 

 of larger, rounded teeth. 



Description of the wood 



Sapwood thick, nearly white; heartwood slightly darker. 

 ilood very soft, light, not strong, very brittle, straight 

 and rather coarse grained, easily worked, not taking a very 

 good polish, annual rings of growth barely visible under 

 a high power microscope. 



Pores few, rather large (.154 mji. in diameter), round, 

 Oi^en both in sa^jwood and in heartwood, and arranged singly 

 or in short radial rows of from C tc 4. 'Jhe vessel walls 

 in contact with pith-ray cells and wood-parenchyma fibers 

 contain few, large, transversely elongated simple pits; 

 elsewhex-e numercus, ^mall pits, with very narrcv/ oorders. 

 Perforations simple, ,/ood fibers about 1.41 m;n. long, .vith 

 very thin walls, x^elatively large lumina , and saall, slit- 

 like si.aple pits, or sometimes with very narrow bv^rders. 

 '■Vood parenchyma sparingly developed, ^-iays exceedingly nu- 

 merous, 1 cell wide and from 3 to 15 cells high. Pith 

 rays constitute about 50 fo of the bulk of the v/ood. 



Distribution, coiiimon names and uses 



The birdcatcher's i^ilk-wood, or lechero of Trinidad and 

 Venezuela, is known from the northern ^.jart of South-America, 

 including some of the Jindward Islands. In Panama, its favo- 

 rite stations are on rocky hills close to the seashore, or 

 in the forests clumps of the savamias along the lower slox^es 

 of the Pacifio watershed. On account of the peculiar a^jpea- 

 rance of its grayish green foliage, it is calle.1 olivo by 

 the natives, -who sometimes use the latex to smear small 

 sticks by means of v/hich they catch birds. 



