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Nomenclature etc. RUTACEAE. Syn. Fagara riedeliana (Engl.) Engl. Trade and local names: ceibillo, kuxche, Riedel prickly ash, prickly yellow, white copal (BZ); cedro espinudo (PE); lagarto (CR); rabo de lagarto, tachuelillo (MX); sajuco negro (BO); casha caspi, guanrunda (EC). Not protected under CITES regulations.
Tree. Geographic distribution: Mexico and Central America, tropical South America, southern Brazil.
General. Growth ring boundaries distinct or indistinct or absent. Often delimited by a 2–4 seriate marginal parenchyma band. Heartwood basically yellow. Sapwood colour similar to heartwood colour.
Vessels. Wood diffuse porous. Vessels in multiples, commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows. Vessel outline rounded. Average tangential vessel diameter 40–75–110 µm. Average number of vessels/mm² 22–24–26. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 6–8 µm. Vessel-ray pits with distinct borders, similar to intervessel pits. Helical thickenings absent. Other deposits present (brown, in some vessels).
Tracheids and fibres. Fibres very thin-walled to of medium wall thickness. Fibre pits common in both radial and tangential walls, simple to minutely bordered. Fibres non-septate.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma banded or not banded. Bands marginal (or seemingly marginal). Bands fine. Axial parenchyma apotracheal, or paratracheal. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse and diffuse-in-aggregates. Paratracheal axial parenchyma scanty and unilateral. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 2–4(–5). Apotracheal parenchyma frequently crystalliferous.
Rays. Rays 2–4–5 per tangential mm, multiseriate, (2–)3–4(–5) cells wide. Height of large rays commonly 500 to 1000 µm. Rays composed of a single cell type (homocellular), or two or more cell types (heterocellular) (only few rays heterocellular); homocellular ray cells procumbent. Tile cells absent.
Storied structures. Storied structure absent.
Secretory structures. Intercellular canals present, traumatic origin, oriented axially, axial intercellular canals in long tangential lines or in short tangential lines.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in ray cells and axial parenchyma cells. Crystal-containing ray cells procumbent. Crystal-containing axial parenchyma cells chambered and not chambered. 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. Birefringent crystalline substances of irregular form (not prismatic) present in both axial and radial parenchyma cells. Silica not observed.
Illustrations. • Transverse section. • Transverse section enlarged. traumatic intercellular canals in tangential bands. • 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’.
