The V/ood 
Color 
The color of the wood of the Virolas varies from pale "brown when 
fresh to pinkish or deep reddish brown, often with a purplish hue. It 
somewhat resembles Spanish cedar (5)« The sapwood is lighter in color than 
the heartwood and may or may not be sharply demarcated from it. 
:;ei^ht 
The wood is mostly of moderate density. The specific gravity ranges 
from 0.60 to 0.75. and the weight from about 27 to 47 pounds per cubic foot 
v.-hen air dry. 
Texture, Grain, and Figure 
The v/ood has a medium texture; pores on the longitudinal surfaces 
are visible as fine grooves without magnification. 
The wood is ordinarily straight grained. 
Luster 
"A plain wood." 
Mechanical Properties 
A 
Some tests of banak— from British Honduras were made in 1923 on a 
log 18 inches in diameter and 9 feet long at the Imperial Institute in 
London (2). These indicated that the strength values for air-dry material 
(about 12 percent moisture content) compare favorably with United States 
basswood, a species of much lower density. 
I>arability 
The wood is very subject to attacks by borers if it is allowed to 
remain in the forest after it is felled. It is probably not resistant to 
decay ~oy wood-destroying fungi. 
?his material was described as a species of Myristic a, a genv.s close to 
V iro la with v/ood described as very similar and admittedly somewhat 
decayed and not positively identified in the forest. 
Rept. No. :.0 ' 
_4_ 
