THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



Colour. Dark red not streaked with black or light brown. 

 Sap-wood ? 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Readily visible, not prominent, rather coarse, size 

 1-2, little variation : evenly distributed, but loosely grouped 

 in oblique, radial lines sometimes reversed in their direction in 

 succeeding rings : few 4-10 per sq. mm. : mostly single many 

 pairs, occasionally subdivided in groups of 3-5 pores : often 

 with red but not white contents. 



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

 less than the width of a large pore apart, running round and 

 interrupted by the pores : numerous 9-11 per mm. : much 

 denser than the ground : nearly straight : appear red against 

 the dark ground. 



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

 but no definite boundary : an occasional fine dark line. 



Soft-tissue. Abundant in irregular, broken borders encircling 

 the pores apparently uniting them to oblique lines : diminish- 

 ing in width between the pores. 



Pith. ? 



Radial Section. Pores fine but readily visible lines : no 

 contrast : glisten from the drops within. Rays scarcely 

 visible, fine lines rather than flakes. Rings very vague. Soft- 

 tissue greyish, traceable as spongy tails to the pores. 



Tangential Section. As the Radial, but the rays are fine, 

 vertical lines about o - i mm. high, and the soft-tissue is never 

 prominent but is readily visible with lens in favourable sections. 



Type specimen from commercial sources, not authenti- 

 cated. 



No. 74. PURPLEHEART. Copaifera (possibly 



bracteata var. pubiflora. Bth.) 



Plate VI. Fig. 47. 



Natural Order. Leguminoseae. 



Synonym. Copaifera = Copaiba. Adans = Copaiva. Jacq. 



Alternative Names. Marawinaroo : Marawayana (78) : Koo- 

 roobovilli (12) in British Guiana : Purpuurhart (12) in Dutch 

 Guiana. Bois violet : Amarante (99) in French Guiana and 

 Brazil. Purplewood. Those names resembling Copaiva and 

 Courbaril are more properly applied to Copaifera officinalis. 

 (Fig 144, PL xvi.) Possibly the Violettholz, Luftholz or 

 Blaues Ebenholz of the Germans (68). Marawagana : Simiridi 

 (99) in Brazil. 



Sources of Supply. Tropical America, chiefly British Guiana. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 49 to 62 lbs. 



84 



