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Nomenclature etc. BORAGINACEAE. Trade and local names: guajayvi hu (PY); peterebí, loro negro, peterebí hú, peterebí saiyú, loro amarillo, afata (AR); louro-pardo, louro, louro amarelo, louro-batata, louro-da-serra, peterebi, louro cascudo, cascudinho, louro do sul, louro mutamba (BR); piquana blanca (BO); laurel negro, laurel (EC). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Description based on 16 specimens. Tree. Geographic distribution: southern Brazil, temperate South America.
General. Growth ring boundaries distinct (if distinct, demarcated by often discontinuous marginal parenchyma bands (1–2 cell rows) and a local thickening of rays) or indistinct or absent. Heartwood basically brown. Sapwood colour distinct from heartwood colour. Odour distinct (weakly aromatic). Density 0.72–0.78 g/cm³.
Vessels. Wood diffuse porous. Vessels in multiples, commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows and in clusters. Average tangential vessel diameter 120–160 µm. Average number of vessels/mm² 2–5. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 5–8 µm. Vessel-ray pits with distinct borders, similar to intervessel pits. Tyloses present, thinwalled. Other deposits present (light brown).
Tracheids and fibres. Fibres of medium wall thickness. 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-in-aggregates. Paratracheal axial parenchyma vasicentric and confluent. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 2–4(–5).
Rays. Rays 5 per tangential mm, multiseriate, 4–5(–7) 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 and mostly 2–4 marginal rows of upright or square cells. Sheath cells present.
Storied structures. Storied structure absent.
Secretory structures. Intercellular canals absent.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in ray cells. Crystal-containing ray cells upright and/or square and procumbent. Number of crystals per cell or chamber one and more than one. Crystals in one cell or chamber of the same size and of two distinct sizes. Prismatic crystals also in sheath cells. Silica not observed.
Illustrations. • Transverse section. traumatic axial intercellular canals (IC) forming a tangential band. TC. • 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’.
