91 



//ood moderately soft, light, coarse-grained, splits only with 

 great difi'iculty, and not taking a good polish. Annual rings 

 of growth not clearly distinguished under the high pov/er mi- 

 croscope, 



Porespb^a-nsverse seotion) few, ( .19 nam. in diameter) , 

 round, scattered, sing-le, and usually closed with masses of 

 tyloses in the hardwood. Vessel walls (longitudinal section) 

 with numerous small simple pits, 7.nd walls of vessel segments 

 v/holly absorbed or with a sclariform ladder-like opening with 

 only a fev/ bars. Pits are frequently transversely elongated 

 resembling scalarifcrm markings. ,;ood fibers about 1.995 mm. 

 long with very thick walls, small cell cavities, and minute 

 oblique pits, ,/ood parenchyma fibers not strongly developed 

 but occur in irregular tangential rcws{ 1 cell wide) inte- 

 rrupted by pith rays. The pith rays constitute more than 

 50 per cent of the v/ood mass; they are from 15 to 30 cells 

 wide and approximately five times as high. The individual 

 cells are elongated, axillary, or less often nearly square on 

 a radial surface. 



■Distribution, common names and uses 



This species is characteristic of the savannas and light 

 forests of the lovver Tropical-d.aerican belt, from Brazil to 

 Central liexico. In Panama, it gees by the name of curate la 

 ( Seeraa nn), c humico , and chumicc ^alo ; c haparr o is the common 

 designation of the same tree in Colombia and Venezuela, '.vhile 

 the Brazilians cf the «mazon Valley call it cajueiro bravo 

 or samba ibinha . The leaves are used for scrubbing and even 

 for polishing wood and iron; the ;vcoden skeletons of the 

 native saddles are oftezi made of pieces taken fro.a the twisted 

 "Crunks. 



