Description of the Woods in the Collection. 



87 



85. NOT IDENTIFIED. 



Possibly Bowdichia virgilioides_,_H.B. et K. Synonym, B. MAJOR, 



Nat. Ord., 



MART. 



LEGUMINOS^J. Native Name, 

 " SICOPERA " IN BRAZIL. 



TATABOO" (2). 



No. 85, FRONTISPIECE. 



Salient Features. A lustrous, nut-brown or golden-brown, 

 coarse-grained wood, banded alternately light and dark. Struc- 

 ture in Transverse Section clearly visible. 



Physical Characters. Weight (so far recorded), 58 Ibs. per 

 cubic ft. Hardness, Grade 7, soft; compare Pine% Smell 0. 

 Taste little, like Pine. 



Colour of Heartwood sharply denned from the Sapwood; 

 darkens ' but little on exposure to the air ; surface brilliantly 

 lustrous. Sapwood grey or a dirty oatmeal colour; width, 

 f-1 in. 



Bark. About \ in. thick, lightly fissured, flaking in patches, 

 very hard and woody; gritty when cut. Surface of log beneath 

 bark scored with spindle-shaped grooves. 



Uses, Qualities, etc. "Length up to 50 and 60 ft., squaring 

 12-24 ins." (2). " Not very common adapted for mill-bed 

 timbers boat building, house framing" (20). Saws easily. 

 Fissile, takes nails badly ; planes badly. May be useful for furni- 

 ture as a substitute for Walnut, but it is much coarser in the 

 grain than that wood. 



Authorities. 2. Bell, p. 9. 12. Hawtayne, p. 384. 17. Las- 

 lett, p. 453. 20. McTurk, p. 3,. 



ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS. 



Transverse Section. Similar in shade to the other sections, 

 patchy in colour. 



Pores. Visible with the naked eye, conspicuous, large; not 

 diminishing towards the close of the season's growth ; considerable 

 variation both within the groups and elsewhere; evenly distri- 

 buted, widely scattered; mostly singly, a few pairs and threes; 

 many filled with a white deposit, others with gum. 



Says. Visible with the lens, minute ; uniform ; fairly regular ; 

 about the width of a Pore apart and not avoiding them. Weak, 

 whitish threads. 



Rings. Apparently defined; boundary very doubtful; occa- 

 sionally a fine line may be present. 



Soft Tissue of definite arrangement ; in broad borders or sheaths 

 around the Pores, sometimes extending into wings and sometimes 

 connecting two or more Pores or groups. 



Pith.( ?) 



Radial Section. The Pores are prominent grooves with some 

 much finer; all bordered by hoary Soft Tissue. The Rays are 

 fairly prominent, hoary flakes, and similar in colour to the Soft 



Tissue. 



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