THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



Bark. Has the appearance of cracked glue or shellac : " pretty 

 smooth " (64). 



Uses, etc. Gunstocks, carriage-poles, ships' -knees, fishing- 

 rods. Very flexible. " Does not corrode nails " (64), but 

 apparently from a remark of J. Leman's becomes " purplish 

 when cut with iron." -'Has all the characters of the best Euro- 

 pean Ash, but is more durable and longer in the fibre" (131). 



Authorities. Boulger (12), p. 436. Miers (76). J. Leman 

 (64). Schomburgk (105). Wiesner (131), Lief. 6, p. no. 



Colour. Brown brownish-grey with an occasional cast or shade 

 of dark blue. " Dark olive" (64). Sap-wood about j inch wide, 

 whitish, ecru. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section: — 



Pores. Visible : size 2, coarsish : little variation : uniformly 

 scattered : few, 10-20 per sq. mm. : single or in compact, sub- 

 divided groups of as many as 10 : no resin : round or oval. 



Rays. On the limit of vision : size, 5 fine : uniform in size 

 and equidistant : few, about 47 per mm. : weak, running round 

 the pores : slightly denser than the ground- tissue. 



Rings. Not traceable. 



Soft-tissue. Abundant in thick patches consisting of radial 

 rows of wide-meshed cells near the pores. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. The blue stain when present is more promi- 

 nent in this section. The pores are readily visible, empty, 

 shining lines of medium coarseness. The rays are readily 

 visible but not conspicuous, bright, bluish-brown flakes (upon 

 a cleft surface). 



Tangential Section. The rays appear as fine lines (upon the 

 imit of vision about 5 mm. high, otherwise as the Radial section. 



No. 10. THE PORTIA TREE. Thespesia 

 populnea. Coir. 

 Plate I. Fig. 7. 

 Natural Order. Malvaceae. 

 Synonym. Hibiscus populneus. Willd. 



Sources of Supply. India, Burmah and the Andamans (37). 

 Ceylon. Trop. Africa. 



Alternative Names. Native rosewood in the Carolines (22). 

 Tulip Tree in India and many others in the various dialects, see 

 Gamble and Watt. Umbrella tree : Faux Bois de Rose : Bois 

 de Rose de l'Oceanie (131). Rosewood of the Seychelles (12). 

 Poplar : Poppy Tree in Barbadoes (8). 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight, 48-53 lbs 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade 4, compare Maple. Smell none. 



10 



