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Nomenclature etc. HUMIRIACEAE. Species included in the description: Endopleura uchi (Huber) Cuatrec. (syn.: Sacoglottis uchi Huber), Sacoglottis cydonioides Cuatrec., S. gabonensis (Baill.) Urban, S. guianensis Benth. Trade and local names: Southamerica: axuá, cumaté, uchi curuá, u. liso (BR); chanul (CO). Africa: ozouga (CM, GH); atala (NG); ugu (BJ); amwan, amouan (CI); doh, déwe (LR). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Description based on 9 specimens. Tree. Geographic distribution: tropical Africa, Mexico and Central America, tropical South America.
General. Heartwood basically brown. Sapwood colour similar to heartwood colour. Density 0.85–0.92 g/cm³.
Vessels. Wood diffuse porous. Vessels arranged in no specific pattern, exclusively solitary. Vessel outline rounded. Vessels conspicuously oval. Average tangential vessel diameter 130–175–270 µm. Average number of vessels/mm² 6–13. Perforation plates scalariform, with 10–20 bars. In S. cydonioides up to 30 bars. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 7–10 µm. Vessel-ray pits with distinct borders or with reduced borders or apparently simple, similar to intervessel pits and different from intervessel pits, rounded or angular and horizontal to vertical, of uniform size or type and of two distinct sizes or types in the same ray cell. Tyloses present, thinwalled. Other deposits present, S. guianensis, S. gabonensis: vessels with orange to red brown deposits.
Tracheids and fibres. Vascular or vasicentric tracheids commonly present. Fibres very thick-walled. Fibre pits common in both radial and tangential walls, distinctly bordered. Fibres non-septate.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma present, not banded. Axial parenchyma paratracheal. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse and diffuse-in-aggregates. Paratracheal axial parenchyma scanty, or unilateral. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 3–9.
Rays. Rays 4–12 per tangential mm, multiseriate, 1–2(–3) cells wide, narrow (2–3 seriate). Rays with multiseriate portions as wide as uniseriate portions present (in some rays dans certains rayons). 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 and procumbent, square and upright cells mixed throughout the ray, mostly 2–4 marginal rows of upright or square cells and with more than 4 marginal rows of upright or square cells. Disjunctive ray parenchyma end walls distinct. Rays often longitudinally fused.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in axial parenchyma cells. Crystal-containing axial parenchyma cells chambered. Number of crystals per cell or chamber one. Crystal containing cells of normal size. Silica not observed.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract fluorescent; colour of water extract colourless to brown. Ethanol extract not fluorescent. Colour of ethanol extract colourless to brown. Chrome azurol-S test negative. Froth test negative. Splinter burns to partial ash. Ash white to grey.
Illustrations. • Transverse section: S. gabonensis. Sacoglottis gabonensis. • Tangential section: S. gabonensis. Sacoglottis gabonensis. • Radial section: S. gabonensis. Sacoglottis gabonensis. • Perforation plates. Sacoglottis gabonensis. scalariform perforation plate, bars slightly branched. • Transverse section: S. guianensis. Sacoglottis guianensis. • Tangential section: S. guianensis. Sacoglottis guianensis. • Radial section: S. guianensis. Sacoglottis guianensis.
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’.
