THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



taste none. Burns well with faint aroma ; heat expels a brownish 

 juice ; embers glow in still air ; little ash. Solution pale straw- 

 colour deepened by potash : no ppt. 



Grain. Fine and compact. Surface scarcely bright. 



Bark. About inch thick, of one layer, light brown, separating 

 in thin, laminated, brittle scales : filled with white rod-like 

 bodies. 



Uses, etc. " A small shrubby tree from 15-20 feet high by 

 10-15 inches in diameter, . . . tough, . . . cabinet-making and 

 teeth for mill-wheels, . . . said to be suitable for wood type " 

 (57)- " Tough . . . wagons, yokes, etc." (19). 



Authorities. Kew Guide (57), p. 32. Laslett (61), p. 457. 

 Nordlinger (86), vol. ix. p. 39. Cape Settlers' Almanac (19). 



Colour. Reddish-brown. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : 



Pores. Visible from their masses not their size, Grade 3-4: 

 no great variation except within the groups but a few widely- 

 separated large pores in the early Spring- wood : chiefly in nested 

 groups of as many as twelve united by the soft-tissue into wavy 

 lines : few, 15-40 per sq. mm. 



Rays. Need lens, size 5, uniform : broad in the middle and 

 tapering to fine points both ends : " middles and ends " together 

 9-12 per mm., " middles " only widely separated, 2-3 per mm., 

 the " ends " a large pore-width apart : lighter than the ground- 

 tissue. 



Rings. Clear : boundary a scanty pore-ring along a narrow 

 line of soft-tissue. 



Soft-tissue. The boundary-line and also imbedding and com- 

 pacting the pores into the wavy lines. 



Pith. ? 



Vertical Sections. Pores, fine but readily visible scratches. 

 Rays, minute, inconspicuous flakes which require the micro- 

 scope and a transparent preparation in tangential section. 



Type specimen authenticated by the Forest Officer to the 

 Government of Natal. 



No. 146. VLIER. Nuxia floribunda. 



PLATE XI. FIG. 92. 

 Natural Order. Loganiaceae. 

 Source of Supply. South Africa. 

 Alternative Name. Elder. 



The only statement regarding this wood which I have seen 

 (W. and E. vol. L, pt. 2), describes this wood as " light yellow 

 tinged with pink, . . . used for felloes and schamels of wagons." 

 This points to an error in the nomenclature somewhere. 



1 66 



