WHITE PEAR 



No. 36. WHITE PEAR. Apodytes dimidiata. 

 E. Mey. 



Plate III. Fig. 26. 



Natural Order. Olacinese. 



Synonym. A. acutifolia, Hochst. 



Alternative Name. Wit Peer. 



Sources of Supply. South Africa, chiefly Natal: 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry weight 49-61^ lbs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 2-3 or rather harder than Blackthorn. 

 Smell and taste none. Burns well, no smell, heat expels gum 

 or resin. Solution with water clear, light brown. 



Grain: Very fine and close. Surface dull. 



Bark. Smooth, not fissured, about \ inch thick, hard : lenti- 

 cels extended laterally something like those of English birch. 



Uses, etc. A good turner's hard-wood. Takes a moderate 

 finish ; not ornamental. Works well in all directions. Does 

 not readily twist or warp, and planes especially well across 

 grain (trans, sec). Very tough. 



Authorities. Unwin. I.I. Journ. No. 62, p. 40. 



Colour. Greyish-brown : a sap-wood tree, no heart-wood. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Need lens, size 5, little variation : rather unevenly 

 scattered : fairly numerous, 45-60 per mm. : mostly single but 

 in groups of 2-4, radially disposed : rarely a loose pore-ring. 



Rays. Need lens, size 5 : apparently two sizes of rays or 

 else the larger taper to great tenuity : lax, coarse-celled, the 

 cells under the micro, appear in strings and equal size 7 (pore- 

 scale), elongated radially and rectangular: the small rays or 

 " ends," size 5-6, a pore-width apart : the larger or "middles," 

 short, weak, but not avoiding the pores : together very numer- 

 ous, from 17-19 per mm. 



Rings. Clear though not prominent : boundary a line of 

 contrast between the dense spring zone, containing many wide- 

 meshed cells against the dense Autumn zone : occasionally 

 a loose pore-ring. 



Soft-tissue. Doubtful whether the many wide-meshed cells 

 are the cells of the small rays or whether they are small pores 

 or soft-tissue. Many single cells at the boundary of the spring 

 zone. 



Pith. Round, coarse celled, £-£ mm. diameter. 



Radial Section. Pores need lens, extremely fine striations : 

 rays small, inconspicuous flakes visible by means of their slight 

 lustre : rings clearly marked dark and light bands, but not 

 much contrast. 



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