123 



Description of the wood 



Sapwood light fellow; heartwood darker, often turning 

 reddish v/ith darlcer streaks, .jood very hard, heavy, very 

 strong^ tough, very oroas and fine-grained, works with diffi- 

 culty, susceptible of a high polish and said to oe very du- 

 rable in contact with the soil, annual rings of growth not 

 visible on a smooth surface under the hanci lens, 



I Pores ("trfahsverse section) not very nujnerous, (about ,22 

 mm. in diameter), round cr elliptical, open in the sajjwood 

 and often closed in tihe heartwcod, and arranged chiefly 

 singly or in pairs; in some pjaoes the pores are grouped in 

 tangential lines sii.iilar to those in the early wood of ring 

 porous v/ocd . Vessel v;alls (-Ic^ngltudinal section) with nume- 

 rous small, rouJid, bordered pits. Perforations at the ends 

 of vessel segments completely absorbed. '.Vood fibers about 

 1»4 mm. long' v/ith very thick v/alls and small cell cavities; 

 the pits are very small slit-like and difficult to see under 

 the compound microscope. .;ood parenchyma abundantly deve- 

 loped around all pores. These can be easily seen on a 

 smooth transverse surface under the hand lens. I'his softer 

 tissue freqaently forms tangential lines connecting the 

 pores. Pith rays very numerous and invariably only one cell 

 wide and from a few to 10 or mere cells hi^^rh.' 



•) 



Distribution, common names and uses 



The wood of this species is said to be often used, in 

 some ;iarts of South America, for building purposes. In Panama, 

 it is of rare occurence and does not seem to have attracted 

 the attention of the natives. 



'j:he Button-tree 



Conocarpus erecta L., Hort. Cliff.: 485. 1737 



Descri^jtlon of the tree 

 A small tree or a mere shrub, seldom ever 8 m. high and 



