THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



Uses, etc. Turnery. " Cabinet-making ... a small tree " 

 (49). Fades : very wasteful and splintery. 



Authorities. Miers (48). Holtzapffel (29), p. 108. Wiesner 

 (131), L. 12, p. 975. 



Colour. Flesh-and-blood colour somewhat resembling that 

 of striped red and white tulips. 



Pores. Only just visible though occasionally large : no con- 

 trast of colour : size 1-2 : the large ones in an interrupted 

 pore-ring of one or two rows at most : subdivided in groups of 

 from two to seven pores radially disposed : 7-10 per mm. : 

 carmine resin in those of the colour-bands : decreasing much in 

 size from the Spring to the Autumn zone ; the colour bands quite 

 independent of the structure. 



Rays. Need lens, size 5-6, uniform : equidistant, a pore-width 

 or less apart, running closely round the pores : light coloured in 

 the pigmented zones : very numerous, *n-i5 per mm. 



Rings. Very clear in transparent section, less so in the solid ; 

 the boundary a fine line of Autumn wood and also a line of con- 

 trast between the pore-less Autumn and the large-pored Spring 

 wood : contour beautifully regular but the colour-zones are 

 irregular and broad. 



Soft-tissue. Abundant in extiemely fine, numerous, con- 

 centric lines, often continuous and often connecting the pores: 

 does not resemble a boundary line but makes a fine reticulation 

 with the rays : size 5-6 or 7 (ray-scale). 



Radial Section. Pores rare but readily visible, red, shining 

 lines with occasional drops of carmine resin : rays extremely 

 fine, hoary flakes : difficult to see : rings traceable with difficulty 

 but the colour bands are very striking : soft-tissue readily visible 

 with the lens as fine, hoary striations. 



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

 imperceptible with a strong lens. 



Type specimens from commercial sources. Not authenticated, 

 but they correspond with Miers' description and with other 

 species of the same Natural Order. 



No. 120. ASSEGAI- WOOD. Curtisea faginea. Ait. 

 PLATE IX. FIG. 75. 



Natural Order. Cornaceae. 



Synonyms. C. fagifolia. Salisb. 



Alternative Names. Hassagay-wood : Zagaiholz : Beech-leaved 

 Assagay-boom. Umnoiso : Umguna (15). Cape Lancewood: 

 Oomlehbe (19) 



Source of Supply. South Africa. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight, 60 Ibs. per 



138 



