II. The Locust Family The locust family, represented in our temper ate flora by such trees as the black locust, honey locust and others, has a large number of species of soft, hard and very hard woods that are used locally in the tropics for all sorts of purposes, and some of them find their way into temperate markets.
1. Rosewoods, facarandd or Cavisina (Bra zil); Blackwood (India).— The name was applied to this wood because of a fragrant odor resembling that of the rose. Similar woods without the odor also bear this name. The woods are dense, heavy, durable and are dark brown or black in color, sometimes streaked with purple, rose and other colors. Their chief use is in furniture, pianos, inlaying and small turnery objects. The main source of the rose woods is Brazil. Here the true rosewood of the Rio de Janeiro region is referred to Dal bergia nigra Allem, and that of the Amazon region to Dalbergia spruceana Hub., but it is known that a number of species of Macheriufn produce rosewood. The rosewoods of Central America are supposed to come from species of Dalbergia. A similar wood of .Colombia under the name of negrillo or granadillo is a species of Machwrium, though the name grana dillo is applied to a number of other woods. The Indian rosewood is Dalbergia latifolia Roxb. A similar wood (Dalbergia melon oxylon Guill. & Perr.), under the name of Senegal ebony, comes from Africa. In a broad sense the cocobola wood of Panama (Dalbergia retusa Hemsl.) can be classified as a rosewood. Other woods of less importance in different genera of this family and species of other fami lies are often classed as rosewoods. Some of these have the blackish color and others are classified as rosewood because of their rose color.
2. Padauk (India) ; Narra (Philippines) ; African Padauk (Africa).— The genus Ptero carpus produces a number of woods usually of a beautiful red color, but sometimes yellowish red and even nearly black. These woods have a similar use to those of the rosewoods and are sometimes given the name of mahogany. The chief source of the best padauk (Pterocarpus dalbergioides Roxb.) is the Adaman Islands (India), though P. indicus Willd. and other species of Burma and India and the Philippines produce similar woods. In the Philippines • the
local name is narra. It has been exported to the United States under the name of Philippine mahogany.
3. Brazilwood; Logwood, or Campeche. Brazilwood is a reddish yellow wood mainly produced by certain species of the genus Casalpinia, and perhaps by Heematoxylon arst. It is exported chiefly as a dyewood. Brazilwood from the eastern tropics was known in Europe before America was dis covered. When Brazil was discovered, because of the abundance of this wood along the coast in the region of Rio de Janeiro, the country was named after the wood. C. sappan L., and perhaps related species, is the source of brazil wood from the Eastern tropics. It is known in India under the name of sappan-wood and in the Philippines as sibucao. While scattered throughout the American tropics, the chief commercial source is Brazil and the Caribbean Sea region. The source of the wood from Brazil seems to be C. eckinata Lamck., though there is some doubt about it. It is known locally as ibirapitanga or peso Brazil, and also has the export name of Pernambuco wood. The brazilwood of the Caribbean region seems to be mostly Hamatoxylon brazilleto. Log wood or campeche (Hamatoxylon campechia num L.) is blood red in color and yields a dye (stain) known as hanatoxylon. It comes chiefly from Southern Mexico and Central America. It is semi-cultivated in India and parts of the West Indies.
4. Dividivi (Cesalpinia coriaria Willd.). The pods of this tree are rich in tannin and they are exported in considerable quantities prin cipally from Colombia and Venezuela where the tree, grows in dry districts where it is wild or semi-cultivated.
5. Tonka bean (Guianas and Venezuela) ; Cumaril (Amazon).— The beans of this tree (Dipteryx odorata Willd., and one or more closely related species) after being treated in casks of rum, are exported in considerable quantities principally from the region south of the Orinoco River in Venezuela. They are used in making perfumes and flavoring extracts. The wood of eumarii is very hard, difficult to work, yellow in color, streaked with red, and is used to some extent in the Amazon region.