PARTRIDGE-WOOD 



Tangential Section. As the radial, but the rays are extremely 

 minute, colourless, large-celled lines of one row of round cells. 



Type specimens authenticated by R. F. Baker and F. M. 

 Bailey. 



No. 79. PARTRIDGE-WOOD. Andira sp. 



Plate VI. Fig. 50. 



Natural Order. Leguminoseae. 



Alternative Names. Pheasant-wood : Sweet Partridge-wood : 

 Red, Brown or Black Partridge-wood in England. Acapu- 

 rajada (ragged bark) in Brazil (76). Angelin or Rebhiihnerholz 

 (68). (See below.) 



Source of Supply. Brazil. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 7o§-8g| lbs. 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade 1, compare Ebony. Smell none. 

 Taste faintly nutty. Burns badly : difficult to ignite : small 

 sluggish flame. Solution with water deep reddish-brown : ditto 

 with alcohol but fainter. 



Grain. Coarse but even, the pores being filled up. Surface 

 lustrous : the pores when full reflect the light. 



Bark. Like a skin of shellac, -fa inch thick, dark brown, 

 brittle, closely adherent. 



Uses, etc. Cabinet-making, turnery. Used as a substitute 

 for Cocus (Brya Ebenus), and frequently sold for that wood. 



Authorities. Holtzapffel (48), p. 99. Miers (76). Martin and 

 Spitzbarth (68), p. 242. Wiesner (131), L. 12, p. 945. 



Colour. Very dark brown, often nearly black heart- 

 wood, sharply defined from the £-f inch wide, light brown or 

 brownish-white sap-wood. Contour jagged and irregularly 

 undulating. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Readily visible from their colour and size, Grade 2, 

 little variation except within the groups : collected somewhat 

 into zones : the large ones mostly single, the small sub-divided 

 or clustered radially in groups of 2-7 : numerous 14-50 per 

 sq. mm. : irregularly and unevenly distributed : oval : filled 

 with brown resin or gum. 



Rays. Need lens, size 5-6, uniform : long, weak and avoiding 

 the pores : equidistant, rather less than a pore-width apart : 

 lighter in the solid, darker in thin section : numerous, 9-12 per 

 mm. : hoary : not coarse-celled. 



Rings. Apparently very clear ; doubtful, the lines of soft- 

 tissue being too indefinite and not concentric with the other 

 portions of the structure : contour gently undulating. 



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