IDENTIFICATION OF TIMBER. 267 



(3) Wood whitish or reddish- white, soft and light, and of very even 

 texture ; boundary of annual rings indistinct (softer than 

 Horse- Chestnut) LIME. 



3. Medullary rays invisible to naked eye. 



(1) With distinct heartwood. 



(a) Sap wood white or reddish- white ; heartwood pale-red to 



dark-brown, light, soft, and lustrous . . WILLOW. 



(b) Sapwood white ; heartwood yellowish or light-brown when 



fresh, and brown when dry (see also ASPEN) . POPLAR. 



(2) Without distinct heartwood. 



(a) Wood dingy white, soft and light, often with pith-flecks 



near centre of stem ASPEN. 



(b) Wood yellowish or reddish-white, and fairly hard and heavy ; 



pith -flecks numerous near centre of tree; annual rings 

 with fine clear boundary-line . . . BIRCH. 



(c) Wood white, yellowish-white, or reddish-white, and not very 



soft (not so soft as Lime) . . HORSE- CHESTNUT. 



^.CONIFEROUS TREES NEITHER MEDULLARY RAYS NOR POROUS 



RINGS OF VESSELS ARE VISIBLE WITH THE NAKED EYE, BUT THE 

 ANNUAL RINGS ARE VERY DISTINCT, THE HARDER AND RUDDIER OR 

 DARKER AUTUMN ZONE BEING PLAINLY DISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE 

 SOFTER AND PALER SPRING ZONE. 



I. Wood with resin- ducts. 



1. Heartwood about same colour as sapwood, pale yellowish or reddish- 



white ("White deal") ; resin-ducts few and fine, appearing as light 

 spots in the Autumn zones ; only recognisable from Silver Fir by 

 the resin-ducts SPRUCE. 



2. Heartwood reddish-brown when seasoned, sapwood pale yellow or 



yellowish-white (" Red deals " or " Baltic redwood "). 



(1) Sapwood broad, and branch-knots regularly disposed in whorls ; 



Autumn zone of annual ring somewhat paler red than in Larch, 

 but resin-ducts larger and more numerous and distinct 



SCOTS PINE. 



(2) Sapwood narrow, and branch-knots scattered irregularly (owing 



to absence of regular branch- whorls). 



(a) Autumn zone of annual ring darker red than in Scots Pine, 



but resin-ducts smaller and less numerous . LARCH. 



(b) Heartwood and sapwood both resembling Larch, but more of 



a pink-red or red-brown colour ; resin-ducts small 



DOUGLAS FIR. 



