March 10, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



267 



the inner bark. (See Bui. Tor. Bot. Club, 

 48: 297-306). 



The statement, Avhich appears so persistent- 

 ly in books, that West Indian boxwood is 

 supplied by Tabebui(\ (lecoma) pentaphylla 

 B. & H. f. (Bignoniacese), is incorrect. 

 Authentic specimens of the wood of this species 

 have been examined by the writer and they 

 have none of the characters of a boxwood. 

 This error arose in 1884 and was due to an im- 

 proper identification of a specimen of "zapa- 

 tero" in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The 

 correct identity of this wood was established 

 twenty years later but the error persists. (See 

 Kew Bui. Misc. Inf., 1904, pp. 11-12, and 

 1914, pp. 214-219). 



BRAZILIAN TULIP-VS^OOD 



This beautiful wood has been used for a 

 great many years for inlay and cabinet work. 

 In typical specimens the background of yel- 

 low is striped with rose-red; in others the red 

 predominates. In a paper on "Storied or tier- 

 like structure of certain dicotyledonous woods" 

 (Bull. Tor. Bot. Club, 46:260) the writer made 

 this statement : 



"The only representative of the Lythracese 

 included in the list is Physocalymma scaber- 

 rimum Pohl, variously known as Brazilian 

 tulip-wood, rose wood, 'pao de rosa,' 'cego 

 machada,' 'grao de porco' and 'sebastiao de 

 arruda.' Writers all seem to be in agreement 

 in referring this wood to the species men- 

 tioned, but the specimens examined by the 

 writer, which are evidently the same as those 

 described by Wiesner (Rohstoffe d. Pflanzen- 

 reiches, 2:975), appear to belong to the Le- 

 guminosae. They certainly do not resemble 

 other available material of the Lythracese." 



Very , recently, through the courtesy of the 

 New York Botanical Garden, the writer 

 had opportunity to study the wood of Physo- 

 calymma and was enabled to determine posi- 

 tively that the Brazilian tulip-wood of com- 

 merce is not of that genus. Unquestionably 

 it is a legume but exact identification is not 

 at the moment possible. 



COFFEE-WOOD 



The wood principally used in the manu- 

 facture of umbrella handles comes mostly 



from Venezuela where the name "granadillo" 

 seems to be applied to it. In the New York 

 trade it is known as "coffee-wood" or "brown 

 eibonj'"; also as "mesquite." In Eviropean 

 markets it is called "partridge-wood." All of 

 these names, with the exception perhaps of 

 "coffee-wood," are also applied to entirely 

 different woods. 



The identity of this wood has not been posi- 

 tively determined, but from the evidence at 

 hand it appears to be Casalpinia Ebano Karst. 

 This wood is known as "ebano" in Venezuela 

 as is also that of C. punctata Willd. The 

 writer has not had opportunity to examine the 

 latter but the structure and properties of 

 C. Ebano agree very closely with that of the 

 wood on the market. 



It is said that part of the trade is supplied 

 by a wood from Mexico but no samples known 

 to be of this source are available for com- 

 parison. 



ROSEWOOD 



There are many woods on the market under 

 the name of "rosewood." Some derive the 

 name from the scent of the wood, others from 

 the color, and still others for no apparent 

 reason at all. 



The Surinam rosewood or "rozenhout" owes 

 its name to its fragrance and is the source of 

 an essential oil of commerce. The identity of 

 this wood has only recently been established 

 by Gonggrijp (De Indische Mercuur, Apr. 23 

 and 20, 1920) as Aniba sp. (near panurensis 

 Mez.). 



The true Brazilian rosewood has been vari- 

 ously ascribed to the genera Jacaranda, Dal- 

 bergia, and Machcerium. The first is an error 

 arising from a confusion of the local name, 

 "jacaranda," with the generic. A specimen 

 of the true rosewood collected by Mr. H. M. 

 Curran with botanical specimens has been iden- 

 tified as Balbergia nigra Fr. All. Certain 

 varieties are recognized in the trade, based 

 largely on variations in color, but the struc- 

 ture indicates a single species. There are other 

 Avoods called "jacaranda" in Bi'azil which are 

 likely species of Maclicerkim but they lack the 

 scent of the true rosewood and are distinct 

 in structure from it. 



