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| Commercial timbers |
Nomenclature etc. BORAGINACEAE. Trade and local names: cypre, salmwood (TT); brown silverballi (GY); bois de Chypre, b. de rose, b. saumée (HT); louro amarelo, falso louro, lourinho, louro alho, teijo, uruá, uruazeiro (BR); alatrique, árbol de ajo (PE); ajo ajo (BO); canalete, nogal de cafetal, n. de capaletas (CO); pardillo (VE); laurel blanco, l. de costa (EC); bojón, popocotle, tambor hormiguero (MX); laurel de savana (HN); laurel hembra, l. hormiguero (NI); poma rosa (BZ); capá (DO, PR); caparó, guacimilla (DO); baría, varía (CU);. Not protected under CITES regulations.
Description based on 6 specimens. Tree. Geographic distribution: Mexico and Central America, Caribbean, tropical South America, southern Brazil.
General. Growth ring boundaries distinct or indistinct or absent. Heartwood basically brown to yellow (pale yellowish brown); often with streaks. Sapwood colour similar to heartwood colour (sapwood slightly paler than the heartwood). Density 0.4–0.53–0.65 g/cm³.
Vessels. Wood semi ring porous or diffuse porous. Vessels arranged in no specific pattern, in multiples. Average tangential diameter of vessels: large. Vessels per square millimetre few. Average vessel element length short. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 5–6 µm. Vessel-ray pits with distinct borders, similar to intervessel pits. Tyloses present, thinwalled.
Tracheids and fibres. Fibres of medium wall thickness. Average fibre length 1128–1827 µm. Fibre pits mainly restricted to radial walls, simple to minutely bordered. Fibres non-septate.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma banded. Bands marginal (or seemingly marginal). Bands fine. Axial parenchyma apotracheal, or paratracheal. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse. Paratracheal axial parenchyma scanty, or vasicentric, or aliform, or confluent. Aliform parenchyma of the lozenge type, or of the winged type. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 2–4.
Rays. Rays 3–5 per tangential mm, multiseriate, 3–4 cells wide. Height of large rays commonly 500 to 1000 µm. Rays composed of two or more cell types (heterocellular). Heterocellular rays with square and upright cells restricted to marginal rows, mostly 1 marginal row of upright or square cells or mostly 2–4 marginal rows of upright or square cells. Sheath cells present.
Storied structures. Storied structure absent.
Secretory structures. Intercellular canals absent.
Cambial variants. Included phloem absent.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in ray cells. Crystal-containing ray cells upright and/or square or procumbent. Number of crystals per cell or chamber one. Silica not observed.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract fluorescent (light greenish blue); colour of water extract yellow. Ethanol extract fluorescent (light greenish blue). Colour of ethanol extract yellow.
Illustrations. • Macroscopic images. transverse (ca. 10x). tangential (natural size). • Transverse section. • Tangential section. • Radial section.
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., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2000 onwards. Commercial timbers: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Version: 9th April 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
