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| Commercial timbers |
Nomenclature etc. FABACEAE-FABOIDEAE. Trade and local names: sebastião de arruda, cego machado, pau rosa, p. cravo (BR); pinkwood, tulip wood (US); Brazilian tulip wood (US, GB); bois de rose (FR). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Tree. Geographic distribution: tropical South America (northeastern Brazil).
General. Growth ring boundaries distinct. Heartwood basically red, yellow; with streaks (red to orange). Sapwood colour distinct from heartwood colour. Odour distinct. Density 0.85–0.95–1 g/cm³.
Vessels. Wood ring porous or semi ring porous. Vessels in multiples, commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows (rarely 4 or more). Two distinct vessel diameter classes present. Average tangential vessel diameter 50–90–210 µm. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 7–10 µm, pits vestured. Vessel-ray pits with distinct borders, similar to intervessel pits. Other deposits present (yellowish to light red).
Tracheids and fibres. Fibres very thick-walled. Fibre pits mainly restricted to radial walls, simple to minutely bordered.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma banded. Bands marginal (or seemingly marginal). Bands fine. Axial parenchyma apotracheal and paratracheal. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse and diffuse-in-aggregates. Paratracheal axial parenchyma scanty, or aliform (infrequent), or unilateral. Aliform parenchyma of the winged type. Axial parenchyma fusiform and as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 2.
Rays. Rays 10–12 per tangential mm, multiseriate, (1–)2–3 cells wide. Height of large rays up to 500 µm. Rays composed of a single cell type (homocellular) and two or more cell types (heterocellular) (very inconspicuous); homocellular ray cells procumbent. Heterocellular rays with square and upright cells restricted to marginal rows, mostly 1 marginal row of upright or square cells.
Storied structures. Storied structure present, all rays storied, axial parenchyma storied, vessel elements storied, fibres storied. Number of ray tiers per axial millimetre 5–6.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in ray cells (infrequent). Crystal-containing ray cells upright and/or square, upright and/or square ray cells chambered. Crystal-containing axial parenchyma cells chambered. Number of crystals per cell or chamber one. Silica not observed.
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’.
