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Nomenclature etc. CTENOLOPHACEAE (HUGONIACEAE, LINACEAE). Trade and local names: adau (BN); kalek bung cung, kayu bawang, latak manuk (ID); besi besi, litoh (MY); ctenoöphon (PG); sudiang (PH). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Description based on 1 specimen. Tree. Geographic distribution: Indomalesia, tropical South America.
General. Heartwood basically brown (brown to purple greyish brown). Sapwood colour similar to heartwood colour, or distinct from heartwood colour. Density 0.8–1.1 g/cm³.
Vessels. Vessels present. Wood diffuse porous. Vessels exclusively solitary. Vessel outline angular. Average tangential vessel diameter 105–120–150 µm. Average number of vessels/mm² 16. Perforation plates scalariform, with up to 20 bars. Vessel-ray pits with reduced borders or apparently simple, rounded or angular or horizontal to vertical. Helical thickenings absent. Tyloses present, thinwalled.
Tracheids and fibres. Fibres very thick-walled. Fibre pits common in both radial and tangential walls, distinctly bordered.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma apotracheal, or paratracheal. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates. Paratracheal axial parenchyma unilateral. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 5–8.
Rays. Rays 8–9 per tangential mm, multiseriate, 1–3 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 2–4 marginal rows of upright or square cells or with more than 4 marginal rows of upright or square cells.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in ray cells and axial parenchyma cells. Crystal-containing ray cells upright and/or square and procumbent, upright and/or square ray cells chambered and 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 not fluorescent; colour of water extract colourless to brown. Ethanol extract fluorescent (light green). Colour of ethanol extract colourless to brown. Splinter burns to partial ash.
Illustrations. • Transverse section. • Tangential section. • Radial section. • Perforation plates; crystals. scalariform perforation plates (SP) and prismatic crystals in chambered axial parenchyma cells (C). SP. C. SP. • Crystals; vessel-ray pitting. prismatic crystals in chambered marginal ray cells (C) and compound vessel-ray pit fields (PF). C. PF.
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’.
