159 



Deacrlptlon of the wood 



Sapwood nearly white; heartwood slightly darker. Wood 

 hard, heavy, tough, exceedingly close-grained, easily 

 splitting, of fone texture and taking an excellent polish. 

 Annual rings of growth not visible except under high power 

 microscope . 



i Pores 4 transverse sedtlon) numerous, exceedingly small 

 ( .06 mm. in diameter) round or elliptical, open, arranged 

 singly, in small irregular groups or in radial rows of from 

 2 to 4. Vessel walls (longitudinal section) with numerous 

 minute simple and bordered pits. Perforations simple, with 

 slanting ends. Wood fibers about 1.26 mm. long with very 

 thick walls and nearly obsoure, oblio^ue, simple pits, arranged 

 in irregular radial rows, wood-parenchyma moderstely abun- 

 dant, arranged irregularly in short tangential rows and in 

 more or less radial rov/s; a number of these elements aout 

 vessels and pith rays, xiays numerous, narrow, barely visi- 

 ble under hand lens; from 1 to 5 cells wide and from 4 to 8 

 times as high. The rays usually terminate above and below 

 in wood-parenchyma cells./ 



,/ 



Distribution, common names and use s 



Besides from Panama, A ma joua corymbosa is knovm from 

 Trinidad and the northern part of South ;imerica. It grows 

 only at low altitudes, preferably in deciduous, semi-dry 

 forests and on the outskirts of savannas. In Panama 

 it is called madrono , together with several other .-iubiacecus 

 trees and shrubs. ?he wood is strong and of current use, 

 where available, in native house-building. 



The spurious Calabazuelo 

 Stachyarrhena heterochroum Staudley, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 



Description of the tree 

 A tree 8 to 10 m. high, the trunk straight, covered with 



