Plants Described in 1807 - Thespesia Populnea, Balat, Anigozanthos Flavidus, Zanthoxylum Flavum (Paperback)

Chapters: Thespesia Populnea, Balat, Anigozanthos Flavidus, Zanthoxylum Flavum. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 18. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Thespesia populnea, commonly known as the Portia Tree (pronounced ), is species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is a small tree or arborescent shrub that has a pantropical distribution, found on coasts around the world. However, the Portia Tree is probably native only to the Old World, and may have originated in India. It is possibly indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands and elsewhere in the Pacific, but may have been spread by early Polynesians for its useful wood and bast fibres. The Portia Tree reaches a height of 610 m (2033 ft) tall and a trunk diameter of 2030 cm (7.912 in). It grows at elevations from sea level to 275 m (902 ft) in areas that receive 5001,600 mm (2063 in) of annual rainfall. The Portia Tree is able to grow in the wide range of soil types that may be present in coastal environments, including soils derived from quartz (sand), limestone, and basalt; it favors neutral soils (pH of 6-7.4). Common names vary according to the country and include Indian Tulip Tree, Pacific Rosewood, Seaside Mahoe (in Florida), Surina (the "elegant tree"), Suriya (Sinhala), Bebaru or Baru baru (Malay), Milo or Miro (in many Polynesian languages), Makoi (Rapanui), Gangaraavi (Telugu), Poovarasu (Tamil), PakuR (Bengali) and Plaksa (Sanskrit). On Pitcairn Island, miro (as it is called there) was once common but extensively logged. The heartwood of the Portia Tree is dark reddish brown to chocolate brown and has a specific gravity of 0.55 to 0.89. It is used to make the thavil, a Carnatic musical instrument of South India. Milo is popular in Hawaii for woodworking (commonly turned into bowls) because of the range of c...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1045547