THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



are obscured by soft-tissue which forms numerous, narrow, 

 inconspicuous, grey borders to the pores. The rays are promin- 

 ent though small flakes. 



Tangential Section. A shade lighter than either of the above. 

 The rings are sometimes traceable, are cloudy lines or loops. 

 The rays need lens being extremely fine lines about ro mm. high 

 and the borders to the pores are several times as broad as in the 

 Radial section. 



Type specimens authenticated by the Forest Officer to the 

 Government of British Guiana. 



No. 75. PURPLEHEART. Copaifera sp. 

 Plate VI. Fig. 47- 



Natural Order. Leguminosese. 



Synonyms. See No. 74. 



Alternative Names. Koorooballi : Kooroobooilli (12). Com- 

 pare also Courbaril and other corruptions of an European origin. 

 See also No. 74. 



Sources of Supply. South America, chiefly British Guiana. 

 Surinam, Brazil. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 53 lbs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 2, compare Boxwood. Smell and 

 taste none. Burns well, embers glow in still air, and consume 

 slowly away to the ash. The heat brings out the purple colour. 

 Solution with water purplish-brown, afterwards with alcohol 

 more purplish. Upon drying a purple sediment is left. 



Grain fine and open. Surface rather dull, the pores being 

 the brightest part. 



Bark. ? 



Uses, etc. As those of C. bracteata (No. 74), with which this 

 species is always confused. Difficult to distinguish from Deme- 

 rara Purpleheart also. For Authorities see foregoing species. 



Colour. Dark brown heart-wood, turning deep purple or 

 magenta upon exposure. Sap-wood. ? 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section. Pores. Con- 

 spicuous though not large, size 2-3, varying in no particular 

 order in the individual ring but increasing slightly as the tree 

 ages : uniformly scattered : few, 2-12 per sq. mm. : single 

 but more often in nested groups of 3-5, enclosed in small spindle- 

 shaped patches of tissue which are not nearly so coarse as in C. 

 bracteata : often filled. 



Rays. Visible in certain lights, size 5-6 : uniform : equi- 

 distant : about the width of a large pore apart : weak but 

 scarcely avoiding the pores : numerous, 5-7 per mm. : much 

 denser than the ground : brown. 



86 



