Unless indicated otherwise, the following attributes are implicit throughout the descriptions, except where the characters concerned are inapplicable.
General. Growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. Heartwood without streaks. Odour indistinct or absent. Wood of commercial potential.
Vessels. Vessels present. Wood diffuse-porous. Vessels arranged in no specific pattern. Vessel outline rounded. Two distinct vessel diameter classes absent. Intervessel pits not vestured. Vessel-ray pits of uniform size or type, of the same type in adjacent elements, located throughout the ray. Helical thickenings absent. Tyloses in vessels absent. Other deposits in heartwood vessels not observed.
Tracheids and fibres. Vascular or vasicentric tracheids sporadic to absent. Helical thickenings absent. Fibres non-septate.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma present, not banded. Axial parenchyma bands not marginal (or seemingly marginal). Unlignified parenchyma absent.
Rays. Rays present. Rays with multiseriate portions as wide as uniseriate portions absent. Aggregate rays absent. Rays of one size. Sheath cells absent. Tile cells absent. Perforated ray cells absent. Disjunctive ray parenchyma end walls indistinct or absent.
Storied structures. Storied structure absent, rays not storied, axial parenchyma not storied, vessel elements not storied, fibres not storied. Arrangement of tiers regular (horizontal or straight).
Secretory structures. Oil and mucilage cells absent. Intercellular canals absent, non-traumatic origin. Laticifers or tanniniferous tubes absent.
Cambial variants. Included phloem absent. Other cambial variants absent.
Mineral inclusions. Crystal-containing upright and/or square ray cells not chambered. Crystals in procumbent ray cells not in radial alignment. Crystals in one cell or chamber of the same size. Crystal containing cells of normal size. Cystoliths absent.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood extractives not leachable by water.
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).