THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



No. 23. WILD CHESTNUT. Calodendrum 



capense. Thb. 



Plate XVIII. Fig. 156. 



Natural Order. Rutacese. 



Synonym. Calodendron capense ? 



Alternative Names. Kastanie (57). Kaapje Kastanje (51). 



Source of Supply. South Africa. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 35f-44f lbs. 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade 7, compare Deal. Taste or smell 

 none. Burns well, ignites readily : a brown juice expelled by 

 heat : a faint agreeable aroma : embers glow in still air. Solu- 

 tion colourless : a white ppt with potash. Bark smooth, about 

 £ inch thick, greenish-brown, woody : of one layer. In trans- 

 verse section masses of ray-like strands run outwards in a 

 zigzag manner. 



Grain. Very fine and even. Surface brilliant but becomes 

 discoloured upon exposure to the air. 



Uses, etc. " Tough and strong . . . useful for waggon- work 

 . . . said to be suitable for sleepers but condemned as inferior 

 by some authorities " (60). " A tree 60-70 ft. high by 4-5 ft. 

 in diameter . . . tough . . . hoops for waggon-tents, yokes, 

 etc." (57). Saws very easily, planes easily and smoothly : a wood 

 of very compact texture. 



Authorities. Laslett (6o), p. 304. Kew Guide (51), p. 33. 

 Nordlinger (86), p. 59, vol. 7. vii. 



Colour. " Dirty reddish " (86). Dirty-white : uniform. A 

 sap-wood tree apparently as my specimen is 13 inches in dia- 

 meter and is all sap. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Visible from their numbers and their arrangement in 

 continuous, undulating lines : size 3-4, little variation : in a 

 two-rowed pore-ring followed by undulating, continuous lines 

 resembling those of Ulmus : few, 10-50 per mm. 



Rays. Just visible, size 3, uniform though apparently of two 

 sizes, tapering rapidly both ends to fine threads : many, 3-7 

 per mm., more than a pore- width apart : of lighter colour and 

 laxer than the ground. 



Rings. Clear : the boundary is the pore-ring : contour 

 regular. 



^Soft-tissue. Encircling, imbedding and often connecting the 

 pores into the wavy lines. 



Pith. " Hanfkorngross, cylindrical, yellowish " (86). 



Radial Section. Pores, fine scratches: need lens. Rays 

 vaguely indicated. Rings visible by contrast of lustre. 



Tangential Section as the Radial, but the rays need lens are 



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