46 GUIDE TO TIMBERS OF NIGERIA 



durable and suitable for bridge-building, decking, etc. It is 

 not eaten by termites ; the natives sometimes use it for canoes. 

 The bark is very poisonous." 



Erythrophleum guineense. Guill et Pierre. 

 Caesalpinesc. Gen. No. 1976. 



Alternative description from a specimen, No. 2997 from 

 Uganda, collected by Mr. M. T. Dawe. 



GENERAL. CHARACTERS. A very heavy and hard wood of a 

 red colour inclining to crimson (distinctly crimson on the 

 transverse section), somewhat striated with rather lighter lines. 

 Colour deepens considerably on exposure. Surface clean, and 

 slightly cold to the touch ; not likely to soil. Grain, coarse 

 and open, but somewhat oblique. 



STRUCTURE. Recalls that of Afzelia. 



Transverse section. (Prepared with glass-paper.). 



Parenchyma of one kind only : (a) vasicentric, visible to the 

 naked eye, extends laterally into lozenge-shaped patches around 

 the vessels, rarely joining two groups ; colour pink. Patches 

 of P. (a) unconnected with the vessels, absent. 



Vessels visible as perforations by reflected light, large, 

 diminishing a little in size from the inside to outside of the 

 ring ; not diminishing in numbers ; number per sq. mm. from 

 2-3, rarely the latter. Arrangement in oblique lines. Simple 

 or in- groups of 2-4 vessels, mostly nested. Shape, distinctly 

 oval. Contents, apparently nil. Proportion of the area 

 (including parenchyma), from about one-sixth to one- 

 fifth. 



Rays visible with lens (in heartwood), more obscure in the 

 sapwood, very fine ; very uniform in size and spacing ; colour, 

 pink; straight. Number per mm. 14-16. At intervals of three 

 to four times their own width, sometimes as many as six to the 

 width of a large pore. Proportion of the tissues about one- 

 sixth. 



Ground-tissue-cells not visible with macroscope ; horny and 

 crimson-red in colour ; occupying nearly two-thirds of the 

 area of the section!, 



Rings apparently vaguely defined by zones of somewhat 

 denser tissue ; contour, regular. 



Radial section. Vessels, medium coarse, empty. Paren- 



