Wood anatomy of the dicotyledons indigenous to New Zealand

Abstract

The anatomy of the secondary xylem of Ascarina lucida Hook.f. is described. The wood is diffuse-porous with indistinct to slightly distinct rings. The vessels are mainly solitary but sometimes occur in short radial multiples. They have long scalariform perforation plates with 80–210 bars. Intervascular pits are small, round to mainly scalariform. Pits leading to rays have wide or narrow borders, and are small, round to mainly radially elongated. Axial parenchyma is abundant. It is diffuse, diffuse-in-aggregates, and scanty paratracheal. Rays are 1–10 cells wide. They are heterogeneous with upright, square, and procumbent cells intermingled. Fibre-tracheids have distinctly bordered pits on tangential and radial walls. Anatomical differences and relationships between A. lucida, Carpodetus serratus, and Pennantia corymbosa are discussed, as these woods share several features.