56 AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 



could hardly undertake, within the limits of a sketch like this, to give a detailed 

 description of all the trees composing the magnificent forests of the province of 

 Tucuman and the valleys of Salta and Oran, so admirably fitted, as they are, for the 

 purposes of the engineer, the builder, the cabinetmaker, the shipwright, the tan- 

 ner, and the dyer. I can only assume to mention a few of the most important, so 

 far as Prof. Lorentz and others have identified them; though in some instances the 

 scientific names may not be entirely reliable, since in the different parts of the coun- 

 try the same popular name is given to trees which differ very materially and some- 

 times have nothing in common save the indigenous name. Besides those which I 

 have already referred to as especially characterizing other portions of the Republic, 

 but which are also found in this zone, I would mention the following as the most 

 common and most magnificent : 



The laurel (Nectandraporphyria), which is a very beautiful tree, with a huge trunk 

 and a dense crown of pinnated leaves, growing to the height of 60 or 70 feet.* 

 There are several species, all of which are abundant and valuable, especially for 

 cabinetwork, and one of which contains camphor in its leaves; it rivals ebony in 

 color and polish. Specific gravity, 0.580 to 0.845. 



The tipa (Maclicerium fertile), also possessing a splendid form and rising to the 

 height of 150 feet, with a straight trunk, which branches about 70 feet from the 

 ground. In the spring it is covered with papilionaceous flowers, producing a 

 beautiful effect from a distance; easily worked; used for railway plant. Specific 

 gravity, 0.660. 



The nogal (Fulgans nigrd), very similar to the European walnut, and producing an 

 edible fruit, and, on account of the ease with which it can be worked and the fine 

 lustrous polish it takes, it is much used in cabinetwork. Specific gravity, 0.538. 



The ramos, two varieties (Cupania uruguensis and C. vernalis), greatly resembling 

 the nogal in appearance and uses, but very hard, indeed almost impermeable Spe- 

 cific gravity, 0.576. 



The cedro (Cedrela braziliensis). There are several varieties, all producing a most 

 beautiful wood, soft and easily worked, and therefore in great demand, being used 

 for furniture, and resembling mahogany in its polish and the rich veins which it 

 possesses. Specific gravity, 0.480 to 0.740. 



The mato (Eugenia mato and E. uniflora), two magnificent species of the Myrtacce, 

 with myrtiform leaves and edible fruit of the size of a cherry. The wood is rich in 

 its colors and is used in decorative carpentry. Being tough and flexible, it is also 

 much used for poles to carriages. Specific gravity, 0.890. 



The palo de San Antonio (Myrcinc floribunda), a tree of majestic proportions in the 

 primitive forests, and producing excellent building timber. Specific gravity, 0.695. 



The lanza (Myrcene marginata), also a very majestic tree, and takes a beautiful 

 polish, thus making it desirable for furniture. Specific gravity, 0.738. 



The lapacho (L. bignor^acce), belonging to the genus Tecoma, a tree of great dimen- 

 sions and very beautiful. It would be almost impossible for the vegetable kingdom to 

 present a more imposing spectacle than these gigantic trees when their branches, 

 dark and leafless during the winter, are covered in the spring with millions of yel- 

 low or rose-colored flowers, which precede the sprouting of the leaves. The wood 

 is of a green color, hard, heavy, and solid, and susceptible of a very fine polish. It 



*Mr. White, in his Notes of a Naturalist, says: "Throughout the forests of Tucu- 

 111:111 the laurol is everywhere found, sometimes forming extensive forests, in AV'JIOSO 

 recesses numerous freebooters found, of yore, shelter and safe concealment. Imagine 

 gigantic trunks, some 9 feet in diameter, jostling one against the other and rising 

 perpendicularly 70 feet, crowned with an ample and elegant nimbus. Beyond the 

 mere grandeur and poetry of the scene, the centuries that these patriarchs have 

 scored their bark, what an inexhaustible commercial and medicinal wealth for future 

 139. 



