SAPPAN-WOOD 



none with cold water. The watery solution turns an intense 

 brownish-purple upon the addition of potash. 



Grain. Rather coarse, but dense and even. Surface lustrous, 

 metallic : that of the rays and pores dull. 



Uses, etc. A dye-wood. Usually met with in the form of 

 roughly-hewn sticks or small billets, with an' occasional trace of 

 the sap-wood still adhering. 



Bark (of the specimen in the Museum No. i, Kew), rough, 

 soft and peeling in flakes. 



Authorities. Gamble (37), p. 135. Van Eeden (123). Aublett 

 (3). Kew Museum, No. 1. Wiesner (131), L. 12, p. 934. 



Colour. Deep orange-red, darkening upon exposure. Sap- 

 wood white, sharply defined from the heart-wood. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Conspicuous, size 3, uniform : rather scarcer in the 

 outer side of the rings : few, 5 to 15 per sq. mm. : in pairs or 

 radial groups surrounded with, and occasionally connected by, 

 soft-tissue. Gamble says, " Pores isolated," which description 

 also agrees with the Kew specimen. 



Rays. Need lens, fine, size 5, uniform : long, too fine to taper 

 perceptibly : numerous, about 5 per mm. : lighter in colour and 

 denser than the ground-tissue : weak, but scarcely avoiding the 

 pores : a pore- width or less apart. 



Rings. Clear, no definite margin, but apparent through a 

 denser zone of pores succeeding a less crowded one : contour 

 regular. 



Soft-tissue. Abundant, surrounding the pores and pore-groups 

 and sometimes connecting two or more groups in a concentric 

 direction. 



Pith. Round or roughly triangular : ij mm. diameter, of a 

 darker red than the wood : " 1 to 12 mm. diameter " (131). 



Radial Section. Pores, cellular lines bordered by soft-tissue, 

 causing them to appear dull against the lustrous ground. Rays, 

 inconspicuous, dull flakes. Ring-boundaries imperceptible. 

 • Tangential Section as the Radial, but the pores are more con- 

 spicuous as the cut opens the radial groups in the direction of 

 their long axis. Rays, excessively fine lines scarcely visible with 

 lens. 



Type specimens from commercial sources, not authenticated, 

 but reputed to be this species. Except in one or two respects 

 they correspond with the specimens at Kew and with Gamble's 

 description. Perhaps my specimens are from the root of the 

 tree while the others mentioned are branches. Wiesner says 

 the wood colours cold water a beautiful and lively red ; my 

 specimens do not. 



Fig. 38, Plate V. (Baphia) serves to illustrate the structure 

 of this species also. 



71 



