THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



The pores are about equally fine in Radial and Tangential 

 sections. 



The Rays are short, broad, blunt, spindle-shaped fines about 

 o - 2 mm. high in Tangential section. 



Type specimen authenticated by the Forest Officer to the 

 Government of New Zealand. 



No. 154. GREENHEART. Nectandra Rodioei. 

 Hook. 



Plate XI. Fig. 99. 



Natural Order. Laurineae. 



Synonyms. N. Rodier. Schk. 



Alternative Names. Sipiri : Sipiera : Bibiru : Yellow Green- 

 heart. Cogwood ? Geelheart in Dutch Guiana. Itauba- 

 branca in the N. Province, Brazil : Itauba vermelho in the 

 Amazonas region (76). 



Sources of Supply. British Guiana, Brazil and Tropical South 

 America generally. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 64-75 lbs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 2, compare Boxwood. Smell or taste 

 none. Burns well with a lively flame : heat expels drops of 

 brown resin : embers glow in still air. Solution with water 

 pale brown : treated afterwards with alcohol, colourless. 



Grain. Smooth, dense and even, though coarse in some 

 sections. Surface of the ground-tissue lustrous. 



Bark ? 



Uses, etc. " Ship-building (rated first class at Lloyd's), sub- 

 merged work of all kinds, piles, wharves, etc., . . . cracks when 

 exposed to the sun" (78). Reported by McTurk in 1878, to 

 be getting scarcer. 



Authorities. Miers (76). Boulger (12), under the systematic 

 name of Tecoma, p. 440. McTurk (78), No. 27. Laslett 

 (60), p. 270. Kew Bull., 1898, ad. ser. i. p. 33. Kew 

 Guide (57), p. 36, 38. Holtzapffel (48), p. 85. Gamble (37), 

 p. 313. Wiesner (131), L. 12, p. 915. 



Colour. Green or greenish-brown to brown. In transverse 

 section dark green, almost black. Heart-wood ill-defined from 

 the sap-wood which is about 5 inches wide. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Conspicuous, green, large, numerous enough to give 

 the section " the appearance of cane " (60) : size 1-2, rather coarse, 

 practically uniform : evenly distributed : some single but mostly 

 sub-divided, also compact groups of 3-4 : few 4-13 per sq. mm. : 

 oval. 



Rays. Need lens, size 5, fine, uniform : equidistant, less than 



176 



