SIMARUBA 



rather broad for their height and are difficult to see except under 

 the bark. The rings are clear but not prominent, fringed loops. 

 Type. Specimen authenticated by the Forest Officer to 

 Government of Natal. 



No. 24. SIMARUBA. Simaruba amara. Aubl. 



(Not of Kayne.) 



Natural Order. Simarubes. 



Synonyms. S. officinalis, D.C. (not Macfad). Picraena offici- 

 nalis. Lindl. Quassia Simaruba. Linn. 



Alternative Names. Acajou blanc in Guadeloupe (131). 

 Simarupa. Bitterwood. Bitteresche. Bitterash. Mountain 

 Damson : Bitter Damson : Stavewood, in Jamaica (64). 

 Pao Pomba : Aruba : Maruba, in British Guiana and the 

 Amazonas region (76). Not the Marupa or Simaruba of 

 Para (76). 



Sources of Supply. Brazil, West Indies, British Guiana. 



Physical Characters, etc. Weight about 30 lbs. per cu. ft. 

 Hardness Grade 8, compare White Pine (P. Strobus). Smell 

 none. Taste very bitter but not in every specimen and not 

 nearly so intense as that of Quassia. Solution with water or 

 alcohol colourless. 



Grain. Moderately coarse and open. Surface lustrous : the 

 Rays and ground bright, the pores dull. 



Bark. ? 



Uses, etc. Weakly medicinal. Of little use in Europe except 

 for purposes where its whiteness makes it of value. "Works of 

 construction in Brazil" (76). " Splits seriously in seasoning" 

 (60). Easily mistaken for Quassia. 



Authorities. Boulger (12), pp. 439, 440, 438 (cited under three 

 different synonyms). J. Smith (111), p. 342. Laslett (60), p. 

 288. Kew Cat. (57), p. 41. Miers (76). Leman (64), p. 149. 

 Wiesner (131), L. 6, p. 93. 



Colour. Milk-white or ecru. A sap-wood tree. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Clear from their size, very coarse, size O, little variation : 

 evenly distributed : few, 1-16 per mm. : sub-divided, mostly 

 pairs, many threes and even groups of as many as 23 (rarely) in 

 compact irregular clusters : short oval : no contents. 



Rays. Just visible, fine, size 4, uniform : equidistant, rather 

 less than the width of a large pore apart : avoiding the pores : 

 rather numerous, 5-6 per mm. : denser than the ground-tissue 

 though lax : white. 



Rings. One-rowed bands of small pores or large cells loosely 



27 



