CAPE BEECH 



5-6 per mm. : the tapered ends a pore-width apart, the thicker 

 portions widely separated, not avoiding the pores : red. 



Rings. Clear, not prominent : contour very irregularly un- 

 dulating : boundary the rather more porous Spring zone, no line. 



Soft-tissue. In indefinite patches imbedding the pores not 

 encircling them but loosely connecting the groups. 



Flecks? There are often imperfectly-healed insect galleries. 



Pith. Irregularly oval, about 2-4 mm. diam. red or dark 

 brown, coarse-celled, hard. 



Radial Section. Pores need lens, minute, empty, shining 

 grooves. Rays, just visible by contrast only. Rings, faintly 

 indicated by a lighter-coloured margin. 



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

 red lines, rather broad for their height, about 0*25 mm. high. 



Type specimens authenticated by Hough. 



No. 128. CAPE BEECH. Myrsine melanophleos. 



R. Br. 



Plate X. Fig. 82. 



Natural Order. Myrsinese. 



Alternative Name. Beukenhout. 



Source of Supply. South Africa, Natal. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 394-46 lbs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 4, compare Hornbeam. Smell and 

 taste none. Burns well and quietly : embers glow in still air. 

 Solution with water brown, darker than the wood. 



Grain. Very fine, dense and even. The surface of the ground 

 is the brightest portion, the prominent rays being dull. 



Bark. J-§ inch thick, brownish, not deeply fissured, rugose 

 from the large corky lenticels, otherwise smooth. Internally the 

 bark shows the impressions of the rays, which are deeply marked. 

 PI. XIX. Fig. 165. 



Uses, etc. "Wagons, . . . tough" (19). A wood of exceptional 

 beauty, resembling that of Oak, but far excelling it. It works 

 well and stands well without either cracking or warping. 



Authorities. Nordlinger (86), vol. vii. p. 18. Cape Settlers' 

 Almanac (19). Easily confused with Plane-tree and with New 

 Zealand Honeysuckle woods. 



Colour. Brownish relieved by prominent reddish silver-grain. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Readily visible though small, rather fine, size 4 : evenly 

 distributed in closed radial groups or nests in long rows between 

 the rays and sometimes apparently within them : 10-23 groups 

 per mm. : variable in size. 



Rays. Very prominent, size 2-3, increasing in breadth out- 



147 



