CAMDEBOO STINK-WOOD 



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

 smell none when dry. Burns rather badly but embers glow 

 brightly in still air : heat expels a brown juice. Solution colour- 

 less : a white ppt. upon the addition of potash. 



Bark. Yellowish-grey, -&-\ inch thick, hard, compact, woody 

 i layer composed of alternate zones of hard, brownish bodies and 

 a light- coloured tissue. 



Grain. Rather fine and even, though open. Surface, slightly 

 lustrous. 



Uses, etc. " A tree about 20 ft. high by 2 ft. diam, . . . tough, 

 . . . planks, axe-handles, fences, and coopers' work, yokes, poles 

 and table-legs, . . . liable to warp" (57). "Railway-sleepers" 

 (Fourcade). Saws rather firmly. Planes badly, for although a 

 soft wood it "lugs," resists the knife and makes a rough surface. 



Authorities. Wiesner (131), L. 6, p. 66. Laslett (60), p. 304. 

 Ditto (61), p. 440. Kew Guide (51), p. 31 and 33. Charpentier 

 (21), p. 137. Nordlinger (86), vol. vii. p. 68. 



Colour. Greyish heart-wood well defined from the slightly 

 lighter sap-wood, which is about I inch wide. " Dark greenish 

 beautifully veined and very hard" ? (60). Light greenish-yellow 

 (86). 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : 



Pores. Need lens yet visible when moistened, size 2-3, much 

 larger in the pore-ring than in the later wood : few, 10-15 P er mm - 

 scattered in small clusters. In slowly-grown wood there is little 

 more than a succession of pore-rings. 



Rays. Just visible, size 3, uniform though apparently of two 

 sizes, tapering rapidly both ends to fine threads : many, 5-9 per 

 mm. rather more than a large pore- width apart : bold, not avoid- 

 ing the pores : of lighter colour than the ground-tissue. 



Rings. Prominent (on a surface not too smooth) : boundary, 

 the pore-ring accompanied by a whitish line finer than the rays : 

 contour regular. 



Soft-tissue. Encircling the pores and connecting those of the 

 later wood in wide rings (like those of Fustic). 



Pith. "White, bluntly-angular, about i mm. wide" (86). 



Radial Section. Pores prominent on account of their numbers : 

 fine, dark scratches. Rays just visible by contrast of lustre : 

 brown on a cleft surface. 'Rings distinct, even prominent. 



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

 inconspicuous lines and the pore-rings appear as prominent fringed 

 loops or lines. 



Type specimens authenticated by the Forest Officer to the 

 Government of Natal. The structure of this wood is similar to 

 that of Chlorophora though the scantiness of the soft-tissue makes 

 it appear unlike that species. 



201 



