ROSEWOOD 



of colour, dull but usually with ruby or black drops : rays ex- 

 ceptionally small : soft- tissue very clear as tails to the pores. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the rays appear as 

 crowded, ruby, spindle-shaped lines (micro.) : and the soft-tissue 

 as a regular series of bars about size 4 (ray-scale). 



Type specimen from commercial sources. Unauthenticated 

 but no doubt a Dalbergia from the structure. 



No. 58. ROSEWOOD. Dalbergia sp. 



Plate V. Fig. 37. 



Natural Order. Leguminoseae. 



Alternative Names. Honduras Rosewood. " Wanx River Rose- 

 wood " (?). 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 68-77 lbs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 1, compare Ebony. Smell faint if any. 

 Taste none. Solution with water pale pink, rather deeper with 

 alcohol. Burns with a lively flame and the typical "Dalbergia" 

 smell : heat expels resin or gum. 



Grain. Very even though moderately coarse and open, the 

 pores being rare. Surface bright, due to the ground : rays almost 

 invisible, the pores dull. 



Bark. ? The surface of the log beneath is striated. 



Uses. An important furniture wood : turnery and inlaying. 



Colour. Nut-brown, streaked with narrow black lines. Sap- 

 wood brownish-white, sharply defined from the heart ; about 

 i-i£ inches wide. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Visible from their size and lustre : size 1-2, little 

 variation except within the groups : evenly distributed : rare, 

 0-5 per sq. mm. : often subdivided, in radial rows of 2-6 pores, 

 many single : nearly always with black or ruby contents : round 

 or nearly so. 



Rays. Clear enough with the lens even across the black bands : 

 size 5-6 : much less than the width a large pore apart, not 

 avoiding but apparently interrupted by them, nearly straight : 

 7-12 per mm. : darker than the ground in transparent section, 

 lighter in the solid. 



Rings. Obscure yet well denned, the bands of colour not of 

 necessity indicating zones of growth : contour often crenate. 



Soft-tissue. Abundant in fine concentric lines rather lighter 

 in colour and wider than the rays : size 4 to 6 (ray-scale), and 

 also in obscure, very narrow borders to the pores ("more visible 

 in the black bands, 2-4 per mm., occurring irregularly"). 



Radial Section. Pores readily visible, scarce brown or black 

 lines, usually with black or ruby contents : rays minute, hoary 



67 



