SUMACH— SYCAMORE 281 



narrow, dingy yellowish.- white ; heart golden-orange to greenish, 

 the autumn zones much darker, handsome, somewhat aromatic, 

 light, soft, brittle, rather close-grained, difficult to split, lustrous, 

 vessels larger and much more numerous in the spring- wood, slightly 

 dendritic, 1 — 7 together, pith-rays not visible. Used in dyeing, 

 and occasionally in small pieces for inlaying in cabinet-work. 



Sumach, Venetian [Rhus Cotinus L.). Southern Europe. 

 EJaown also as " Wig-tree," " Wild Olive," " Young," or '' Zante 

 Fustic." A shrub, yielding crooked sticks 4—5 ft. long and 

 2 — 3 in. in diam. Sapwood narrow, white ; heart golden-yellow 

 or greenish, hard, easily split, lustrous ; rings not distinct ; vessels 

 and pith-rays as in the preceding. Imported from Greece as a 

 yellow dye for wool and leather. 



Sundri {Heritiera fomes Buch. : Order SfercuUdcece), Sunder- 

 bunds of Bengal, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo. Beng. " Sundri." 

 Burm. " Ka-na-zo." Germ. " Brettbaum." Not large, yielding 

 timber 15 ft. long and 1 ft. in diam. S.G, 927—799. W 58-^50. 

 Brown, very hard, tougher than any other Indian wood, elastic, 

 strong, and durable. Used for boat- and bridge-building, handles, 

 naves and felloes, and especially spokes of gun-carriages, and in 

 Calcutta largely as firewood, and yielding gunpowder charcoal of 

 the best quality. The close-allied H. liUordlis Bryand. is a native 

 of East Africa, the Mauritius, Burma, and Queensland, where it is 

 known as " Eed Mangrove." It is the " Bois de Table" of the 

 Seychelles and the '' Looking-glass-tree " of English gardeners. 

 It yields timber 30 ft. long and 2 ft. in diam. W 102 when wet, 

 65 when dry. Dark-coloured, scented, firm, very tough, durable. 

 Used in boat-building, for handles, gunstocks, planking, and 

 packing-cases. 



Sweetwood, Timber {Neddndra exaltdta Gris. : Order Laurdcece). 

 West Indies. Cuba '' Boniato amarillo." W 53. Brownish, 

 tinged with green, very heavy and hard, fine-grained, resembling 

 Greenheart. Used for interior work. 



Sycamore, a name that has been singularly and variously mis- 

 applied. Belonging originally to the Eig-mulberry of the Levant 

 {Ficus Syhomorus L. : Order Mordcece), a shade-tree yielding a very 

 strong wood, used for Egyptian mummy-cases ; it is applied in 

 England to the Great Maple {Acer Pseudo-pldtanus L. : Order 

 Acerinece). Central Europe and Western Asia, almost naturalized 

 in Britain. Known in the South of Scotland as " Plane." French 

 " Grand Erable, Erable blanc de montagne, Fausse platane." 

 Germ, '' Bergahorn." Height 40-~-60 ft. ; diam. 1—3 ft. W 64 

 when newly cut, 48—29 when dry. Without distinct heartwood, 

 white, when young, becoming yellowish with age, or slightly brown 

 in the centre, often beautifully figured, the fine but distinct pith- 



