Maquira sclerophylla (Ducke) C.C. Berg (Muiratinga)
Nomenclature etc. MORACEAE. Syn.: Oldmedioperebea sclerophylla. Trade and local names: Muiratinga (BR, D), Pau tanino, Pau de indio (BR).
Description based on: 1 species/specimens. Tree. Geographic distribution: tropical South America.
General. Heartwood basically brown to yellow to white or grey. Sapwood colour similar to heartwood colour. Basic specific gravity 0.6–0.7 g/cm³.
Vessels. Wood diffuse-porous. Vessels in multiples, commonly short (2–3 vessels) radial rows. Average tangential vessel diameter 80–160–260 µm. Average number of vessels/mm² 3–7. Perforation plates simple. Intervessel pits alternate, average diameter (vertical) 5–9 µm. Vessel-ray pits with reduced borders or apparently simple, different from intervessel pits, rounded or angular and horizontal to vertical (vertical), of two distinct sizes or types in the same ray cell, unilaterally compound and coarse. Tyloses in vessels present, thinwalled.
Tracheids and fibres. Fibres of medium wall thickness. Fibre pits mainly restricted to radial walls, simple to minutely bordered. Fibres exclusively septate. Septate fibres evenly distributed.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma paratracheal. Paratracheal axial parenchyma vasicentric to aliform. Aliform parenchyma lozenge. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per axial parenchyma strand 3–6.
Rays. Rays 4–8 per tangential mm, multiseriate, also if only few, 3–6 cells wide. Rays composed of two or more cell types. Heterocellular rays square and upright cells restricted to marginal rows. Number of marginal rows of upright or square cells 1 and 2–4.
Secretory structures. Intercellular canals present (latex tubes), radial type.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in ray cells. Crystal-containing ray cells upright and/or square. Crystal-containing axial parenchyma cells not chambered. Number of crystals per cell or chamber one. Silica not observed.
Cite this publication as: H. G. Richter and M. J. Dallwitz (2000 onwards). 'Commercial timbers: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval.' In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th May 2000. http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/.
Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993 onwards, 1995 onwards, 1998) should also be cited (see General references).