118 



margin; diso cajj-liko, sapijorting the numerous stamens; pis- 

 til 6 nm. long, the ovary globose or subglobose, .^^labrous, 

 the style slender, hairy, the stigma capitellate.' Capsule 

 3-celled, S-valved, each cell 1-seeded.) 



Description of the witod 



Sapv/ood thick, light brown or nearly white; heartwood 

 very hard, heavy, brittle, straight and fine grained, fairly 

 •asy to work, taking a good polish, not durable in contact 

 with the soil, annual rings of grov/th usually very indis- 

 tinctly visible even under the high power microscope. 



: Pores f't:5ansv&rs^-s«^4ilon) very numerous in tangential 

 zones, these alternating with zones of a lesser number of 

 pores, not indicative of annual grcv/th layers. Peres snail 

 (.075 m;n. in diameter) , open in sapwood, often closed in 

 heartwood and arranged singly or in short radial rows. 

 Vessels ( loiie i tudlnff 1 -s^T>t-itr»)- with n-.imerous minute pits 

 very narrowly bv^rdered. Perforations simple, ,/ood fibers 

 about 1,G6 mm. long, with rather thick walls, small lumina, 

 and small, slit-lik^ simple x^its. ,'ood i^arenchyma strongly 

 developed and Hrianjied in numerous, irregular, inconspicuous, 

 tangential lines. 2hese' elements surround vessels ana 

 border rays. Under high power microscope the parenchyma 

 cells are easily distinguished from wood fibers o^t the thin 

 walls of the former, ^iays are very narrow, barely visible 

 under hand lens, from 1 to 3 rows of cells v/ide and from 10 

 to 15 cells high. ) 



Distribution, comiaon names and uses 



Like the other representatives of the family, the Gassi- 

 pourea is generally found in close proximity to the tidal 

 belt. It occurs all over the ..est Indies and on the neigh- 

 boring parts of continental /.merica, not being reported, 

 however, from any country north cf Ccata :lica. In some 

 parts of Panama, it is called huesito , or small bone, an 

 allusion to the hardness of its fine grained wood, the use 

 of which is quite limited. 



