| | CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification and information retrieval |
Nomenclature. Family: FABACEAE-FABOIDEAE. Other trade relevant species: Acosmium nitens, A. dasycarpum, A. panamense. Synonym(s): Sweetia spp., Leptolobium spp. Further trade and local names: Acosmium panamense: bálsamo amarillo, cencerro, guayacán, huesito (MX); cocobolo, malvecino (PA); vera de água (VE); congrio (VE, CO); carboncillo (CR); billy webb (BZ); chichipate (GT, HO, PA, SV); bilihuete (HN). Acosmium nitens: water groenhout, watra grin (SR); itaúbarana (BR), kamarakata (GY). Acosmium subelegans: lapachillo (AR). Acosmium dasycarpum: perobinha (BR). Code according to DIN EN 13556: none.
CITES(EU) status of protection. Not protected.
Similar timbers. Easily mistaken for Pericopsis elata (CITES II).
Geographic distribution. Mexico and Central America to temperate South America.
Growth rings, colour, grain, etc. Growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. Heartwood basically brown; without streaks. Sapwood distinct from heartwood colour. Wood heavy and hard (0.80–1.02 g/cm3). Interlocked grain present.
Hardwood vs softwood. Vessels (pores) present (= hardwood).
Vessels (pores). Wood diffuse-porous. Vessels (pores) in multiples; commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows. Vessels medium to large (65–135–195); few (8–10–14). Tyloses absent. Other deposits in heartwood vessels (pores) present.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma present; sporadically banded. Parenchyma bands exclusively marginal (or seemingly marginal); narrow. Other macroscopically visible types of axial parenchyma: vasicentric, aliform lozenge type, and confluent (frequently also unilateral, i.e., forming semicircular hoods or caps only on one side of the vessel).
Rays. Rays narrow. Large rays commonly less than 1 mm high.
Storied structure. Storied structure present. Tiers regular (horizontal or slightly inclined); 3–4 per axial millimetre.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract not fluorescent; colour shade of water extract colourless to brown. Heartwood extractives not leachable by water. Ethanol extract fluorescent (weakly light blue); colour shade of ethanol extract colourless to brown. Froth test negative. Splinter burns to full ash, or to partial ash; colour of ash white to grey.
Additional information. • Transverse section + wood surface. Acosmium sp. (Lapachillo). Transverse section ca. 10x. Wood surface, natural size.
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., Gembruch, K., and Koch, G. 2014 onwards. CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th April 2023. www.delta-intkey.com’.
