82 ECONOMIC WOODS OF THE UNITED STATES 



b 4 Wood less deeply colored, mostly light cherry- 

 red. Considerable variation in width of growth 

 rings. Wood variable from light, soft and uni- 

 form-textured to fairly heavy, hard, and show- 

 ing decided contrast between the two portions 

 of a growth ring. Resin masses more prominent 

 than in preceding. Sp. gr. .40-.52, mostly be- 

 tween .40 and .45. Redwood, S. sempervirens 

 (Lamb.) Endl. (P). 23 



b 3 Color widely variable, yellowish, reddish, brown, 

 variegated, or almost black. Texture fine. 

 Smooth surface of denser specimens usually looks 

 and feels greasy or waxy, sometimes as though 

 heavily impregnated with paraffine. Odor some- 

 what rancid or wanting. Wood variable from very- 

 soft and light to rather hard and heavy. Sp. gr. 

 .S4-.55, mostly between .40 and .50. No resin 

 masses visible under lens ; under compound microscope 

 resin in wood parenchyma strands appears mostly in globu- 

 lar masses. Rays uniseriate, without tracheids; lateral pits 

 in ray cells large and obliquely elongated; no terminal pits. 

 Bordered pits in tracheids of spring wood rather small and 

 often irregularly disposed or, near ends, arranged in pairs or 

 in horizontal rows of 3 or 4. Southern or Bald Cypress,* 

 Taxodium distichum Rich. (S). 24 



b 1 Woods with aromatic odor. Cedar Group. 25 



a 2 Color light clear yellow or slightly brownish, without 

 much distinction between heartwood and sapwood. 

 Late wood inconspicuous. Odor pronounced; pun- 

 gent. Taste unpleasantly spicy-resinous. Woods 

 varying from light and soft to moderately so. Tex- 

 ture fine, uniform. Sp. gr. .40-. 54, average about .45. 



Yellow Cedars. 



* A varietal form, T. distichum var. imbricarium Sarg., is recognized by 

 botanists but the wood is scarcely if at all Distinguishable from the specific 

 form. Lumbermen refer to different grades of wood as yellow, red, white, or 

 black, sometimes in connection with the color, sometimes in reference to 

 buoyancy of the logs. Cypress lumber is often "pecky" or "peggy," that is, 

 filled with large fungous-galleries. The wood of the "knees" is extremely 

 light, soft, and uniform-textured and is used commercially for floats. The 

 tracheid walls are very thin, the cavities large, and the radial pits are con- 

 siderably smaller than those in stem wood. 



