SCENTED WOODS 



669 



color or other special prop- 

 erty. There is still con- 

 fusion about the botanical 

 status of these woods 

 though they are generally 

 referred to the genera Dal- 

 bergia and Machaerium. 

 There are so-called rose- 

 woods in all parts of the 

 Tropics, but some of them 

 get the name from their 

 rose color. The sweet- 

 scented mimosa of India, 

 Burmah and Ceylon, the 

 griting of Borneo and the 

 blackwood of Africa have 

 a more or less pronounced 

 odor of rosewater. It is 

 said that the wood of the 

 common European elder 

 has a like fragrance when 

 freshly cut. 



Myall or violetwood of 

 Australia, the product of 

 two species of Acacia, has 

 the delightful scent of vio- 

 lets which becomes very 

 pronounced when the mate- 

 rial is being worked. If 

 one wishes to retain a high 

 opinion of this wood it is well not "to taste it. The hackia 

 of British Guiana and the West Indies is said to give 

 off an odor when Worked distinctly resembling the tube- 

 rose, while the manchineel of Central America and the 



THE BLACK LOCUST.. ITS TIMBER, WHEN FRESH, TASTES AND 

 SMELLS LIKE GREEN BEAN PODS 



Antilles is lavendar-scented. 

 The oil of guayac wood, ob- 

 tained from a South Ameri- 

 can tree closely related to 

 the lignum-vitae, is used in- 

 the perfume industry for 

 the purpose of producing 

 a tea-rose odor. A distinct 

 scent of musk is imparted 

 by the woods of the musk- 

 tree of the Fiji Islands and 

 the muskwood of Australia. 

 The cumuru or tonka 

 bean of South America is 

 the source of a material 

 used extensively in flavor- 

 ing snuff. Most of this 

 comes from the pods, but 

 enough is contained in the 

 wood to impart a mild odor 

 of vanilla. Sometimes very 

 oily specimens are some- 

 what rancid and the per- 

 fume obscured. 'Hie um- 

 burana of Brazil is a soft 

 yellow wood so delightfully 

 scented with vanilla that 

 one is tempted to eat it. In 

 western Australia is a spe- 

 cies of Acacia called rasp- 

 berry jam wood because of its odor which is powerful 

 and -almost overpowering when the wood is freshly cut. 

 Then there are vegetable and nut odors. An English 

 authority says that the fresh wood of the horsechestnut, 





Photographs fcy C. H. Pearson. 



A GROUP OF BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD, 

 LOCALLY AS JACARANDA 



KNOWN 



THE CUMURU OF SOUTH 

 AMERICA 



THE MANCHINEEL TREE OF CENTRAL AMER- 

 ICA, HAS A DELICATE SCENT OF LAVENDAR 



