T HE timbers op commerce 



uniformly scattered : lew 0-5 per sq. mm. : mostly single, occa- 

 sionally subdivided in groups of 2-8 : usually empty. 



Rays. Need lens, size 5-6 : uniform : equidistant, much less 

 than width of a large pore apart, not avoiding but inter- 

 rupted by the pores : numerous, 11-13 per mm : denser than the 

 ground-tissue : appear red against the darker ground. 



Rings. Very doubtful : zones of darker wood here and there, 

 but no definite boundary. 



Soft-tissue. Abundant in concentric lines linking the pores, 

 visible to the naked eye, size 3 (ray-scale) of the colour of the 

 rays but lighter. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. Very prominent, black, shining grooves. 

 Rays visible but inconspicuous, fine, hoary flakes. Rings not 

 traceable, but the dark vertical bands are frequent. Soft-tissue 

 appears as hoary continuations or tails to the pores, sometimes 

 traceable for an inch or more beyond the pore-grove. 



Tangential Section. As th& Radial, but the rays are invisible 

 with lens, about o - 3 mm. high and very difficult to make out, 

 and the soft- tissue is in irregular hoary patches. 



Type specimens from commercial sources checked by the 

 specimen in the Museum No. i, Kew, and by Gamble's de- 

 scription. 



No. 66. KOWHAI. Sophora tetraptera. J. Mill. 

 Plate V. Fig. 42. 



Natural Order. Leguminoseas. 



Sources of Supply. New Zealand. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 48I lb. per cu. 

 ft. Hardness Grade 3, compare Blackthorn. Smell or taste 

 none. Burns well with much crackling and a faint, peculiar 

 aroma : embers glow in still air : no juice expelled by heat. Solu- 

 tion almost colourless : potash turns it faint golden-brown with 

 a copious golden ppt. 



Grain. Fine. Surface scarcely bright. 



Bark. Brown, hard, leathery, not fissured : about J inch 

 thick : of one layer. The rays are continued through the bark 

 and are gathered into cone-shaped pencils of about 20 rays, like 

 those found in the bark of Duguetia quitarensis. No. 2. ' 



Uses, etc. "Very tough and hard — cogs — recommended as a 

 substitute for Lignum-vitse " (24). Works very well. 



Authority. Collinson (24). 



Colour. Heart-wood whitish or brownish-white, not sharply 

 but clearly defined from the slightly lighter sap-wood, which is 

 about i£ inches wide. 



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