34 The Timbers of British Guiana. 



Very hard to saw. Fissile, takes nails badly. Planes and turns 

 well though hard. Polishes well. A market might be found for 

 this wood as a substitute for the cheap grades of Mahogany. 

 Sometimes confused with Hiawa 011 account of the similarity in 

 the names. 



Authorities. 2. Bell, p. 5. 4a. Boulger, pp. 425, 434. 12. 

 Hawtayne, p. 386. 16a. Kew Guide, p. 36. 17. Laslett, p. 451. 

 17a. ditto, p. 297. 20. McTurk, p. 5. 



ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS. 



Transverse Section. Slightly darker than the other sections. 



Pores. Visible with the unaided eye, prominent in the Sap- 

 wood ; not diminishing towards the close of the season's growth ; 

 little variation except in the groups. Evenly distributed, scat- 

 tered over the whole section ; few ; mostly single, a few pairs and 

 threes. Light coloured in the darker bands, but for the most 

 part inconspicuous. On the contrary, very bold and whitish in 

 the Sapwood. 



Eays. Visible with the lens; fine, uniform, regular; equi- 

 distant, about the width of a Pore apart, but scarcely avoiding 

 them; rather lighter in shade than the ground. 



Rings. Well-defined; boundary a narrow zone of darker wood, 

 poor in Pores ; contour regular ; averaging 10 per in. of radius 

 in my specimens. 



Soft Tissue of no definite arrangement; merely very narrow 

 sheaths round the Pores. 



Radial Section. Lighter in shade than the other sections, 

 lustrous. The Pores are fine scratches ; the Rays are small red 

 flakes, prominent when moistened ; the Rings are not indicated. 



Tangential Section as the Radial, but the Rays need the lens, 

 being minute red lines on the limit of vision; height about '25 

 m/m. 



Type Specimens. Authenticated by Bell, No. 33/2689. 



34. BYRSONIMA SPICATA. RICH, (not of Poepp). 



(probably) . 



Nat. Ord., MALPIGHIACE^E. 



Alternative Names. " Hitchia " (2); "Pigeon's Berry, 



Itchia" (24a); " Surette in Trinidad" (4a) ; " Moricypre " 



(16a); " Merisier dore, Bois tan" (266); "Shoemaker's Bark" 



(16a) ; " Surette des grands Bois, Cereza del monte o mureche, in 



Trinidad " (10). 



Salient Features. A rather soft, light wood, fine-grained and 

 of an uniform nut-brown colour. 



Physical Characters. Weight (so far recorded), 50J Ibs. per 

 cubic ft. Hardness, Grade 7, soft; compare Pine. Smell when 

 dry 0. Taste very faintly spicy. 



