THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



No. 78. BLACK BEAN (of N. S. Wales.) Castano- 

 spermum australe. A. Cunn. 



PLATE VI. FIG. 49. 



Natural Order. Leguminoseae. 



Alternative Names. Bean-tree ; Moreton Bay Chestnut in 

 Queensland (5) and N.S.W. (85). Australische Kastanje in 

 South Africa (51). Irtalie in N.S.W. (12). 



Sources of Supply. Australia, Queensland, and New South 

 Wales ; introduced into South Africa. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 35-46^ Ibs. 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade 3, compare Blackthorn. Smell none. 

 Taste very faintly astringent. Solution with water or alcohol 

 slightly brownish. Burns very well and rather noisily, embers 

 glow in still air, heat expels a brown juice. 



Grain. Coarse open. Surface bright ; rays, pores, and soft- 

 tissue dull, especially the latter. 



Bark. " Glabrous, i.e. smooth, or nearly so " (85). 



Uses, etc. " Very handsome, suitable for cabinet work " 

 (85). " Prized by cabinet-makers and turners " (5). This wood 

 has a superficial resemblance to the greyish kinds of Teak. 



Authorities. Nilsson (85), p. 40. F. M. Bailey (5), p. 47. 

 Hutchins (51). 



Colour. Dark-brown to almost black. Sap-wood yellow. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : 



Pores. Prominent from their colour and size, Grade 2, not 

 much variation except within the groups ; very evenly distri- 

 buted but a distinct zonal arrangement with a tendency to occa- 

 sional oblique lines ; few, 3-15 per sq mm. ; mostly single, but 

 in subdivided groups of as many as 12 pores. 



Rays. Need lens, size 5-6, uniform ; less than a pore-width 

 apart, equidistant ; stopped short by or running round the 

 pores ; numerous 9-13 per mm. ; lighter in colour than the 

 ground. 



Rings. Vague, indicated by a change in the disposition of 

 the pores and by a slightly less porous zone here and there. 



Soft-tissue. Abundant and prominent ; imbedding and some- 

 times winging the pores, or connecting a few concentrically or 

 obliquely ; light in colour. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. Pores; prominent lines with light-coloured 

 borders (in the dark wood) : red or black contents. Rays just 

 visible with the lens, minute, hoary dull flakes. No indica- 

 tion of the rings. Soft-tissue appears as hoary borders to the 

 pores and equalling them in breadth. 



90 



