| | Commercial timbers |
Nomenclature etc. EUPHORBIACEAE. Incl. Hieronyma oblonga Muell. Arg. Trade and local names: llorón colorado, nancito (CR); aguacatillo, coral, quindu cacao, carne asada, torrito, trompillo (VE), mascarey (EC); pilón (trade, cAm); suradan, suradanni (GY); candelo, chuguaco, pantano, plátano, zapatero (CO); urucurana, margonçalo, aricurona, pau de quina (BR); cajuela, sagua, rosita (CU); palo de sangre (PE); nascary (EC); soradan, tilokenoeroe, ananiwana, tarroema, okotjo, piento bolltrie (SR); curtidor (HN). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Description based on 10 specimens. Tree. Geographic distribution: Mexico and Central America, Caribbean, tropical South America.
General. Heartwood basically brown, red (light reddish brown, to chocolate brown, to dark red). Sapwood colour similar to heartwood colour, or distinct from heartwood colour (sapwood pinkish). Density 0.52–0.7 g/cm³.
Vessels. Vessels present. Wood diffuse porous. Vessels arranged in no specific pattern, exclusively solitary. Average tangential vessel diameter (120–)200–300 µm. Average number of vessels/mm² 4–7. Average vessel element length 590–1220–1730 µm. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits opposite or alternate, average diameter (vertical) 6–10 µm. Intervascular pitting extremely rare. Vessel-ray pits with reduced borders or apparently simple, different from intervessel pits, rounded or angular or horizontal to vertical, of the same type in adjacent elements or unilaterally compound and coarse. Tyloses present, thinwalled. Other deposits present (reddish brown).
Tracheids and fibres. Vascular or vasicentric tracheids commonly present (vasicentric). Fibres of medium wall thickness. Average fibre length 1700–3480 µm. Fibre pits common in both radial and tangential walls, distinctly bordered. Fibres non-septate.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma apotracheal. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse, or diffuse-in-aggregates. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 3–8.
Rays. Rays 6–10 per tangential mm, multiseriate, 3–7 cells wide (large rays). Aggregate rays absent. Rays of two distinct sizes. Height of large rays commonly over 1000 µm. Rays composed of two or more cell types (heterocellular). Heterocellular rays with square and upright cells restricted to marginal rows, mostly 2–4 marginal rows of upright or square cells or with more than 4 marginal rows of upright or square cells.
Secretory structures. Intercellular canals absent.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in ray cells or axial parenchyma cells. Crystal-containing ray cells upright and/or square or procumbent, upright and/or square ray cells chambered or not chambered. Crystal-containing axial parenchyma cells chambered. Number of crystals per cell or chamber one. Silica not observed.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract fluorescent (light blue), or not fluorescent (in some specimens); colour of water extract colourless to brown. Ethanol extract not fluorescent. Colour of ethanol extract colourless to brown.
Illustrations. • 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’.
