RED PEAR 



condition of my specimen, which was cut at the same time as 

 other woods perfectly dry at the time of writing. 



Colour. Heart-wood greenish or greenish-brown gradually 

 passing into the lighter sap-wood. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : 



Pores. Need lens, size 4, some variation : irregularly and 

 thinly scattered singly or in radial groups of 2-15 pores between 

 the rays: few, 20-40 mm. The. larger groups are sometimes 

 two-rowed. 



Rays. Readily visible, size 2-3, apparently of two sizes, but 

 the smaller, I believe, are the attenuated ends of the larger : 

 sometimes of different colour in the same ray. " Middles," 

 size 2-3 and 1-3 per mm. or with " ends " together, 7-8 per 

 mm. : very lax and lighter in colour than the ground- tissue. 



Rings. Vague. 



Soft-tissue. In scattered cells only. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. Pores, fine open scratches. Rays, readily 

 visible or even prominent brown flakes. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the rays are broadly 

 spindle-shaped bodies about | inch high of coarse, brown cells 

 large enough to be seen with the lens. 



Type specimen authenticated by the Forest Officer to the 

 Government of Natal. 



No. 5. RED PEAR. Scolopia Mundtii. Arn. (Warb). 



(Not mentioned in the Index Kewensis.) 

 PLATE I. FIG. 5. 



Natural Order. Bixineae. 



Synonyms. S. Zeyheri. Arn. (Warb.). S. Ecklonii. Arn. 

 (Warb.) (131). Neither of these are mentioned in the I.K. 

 Phoberos Mundtii. Harv. et Presl. P. Ecklonii. Presl. 



Alternative Names. Klipdoorn (21). Thorn (12). 



Source of Supply. South Africa, Natal. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight, 50 Ibs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 7, compare English Beech. Smell or 

 taste none. Burns well with a faint aroma, an unusually copious 

 yellow juice expelled by heat, embers glow in still air. Solution 

 pinkish, the' colour of the transverse section of the wood, dark- 

 ening to port-wine colour upon the addition of potash : no ppt. 



Grain. Fine though open. Surface not bright. 



Bark. Light-brown, about \ inch thick, of one layer, wrinkled, 

 hard, compact, woody : filled with white rod-like bodies. 



Uses, etc. " Hard and durable " (131). " Building timber " 

 (21). " Wagons, timber to 3 ft. in diameter " (19). Saws 



