Wood anatomy of the dicotyledons indigenous to New Zealand

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Abstract
The anatomy of the secondary xylem of Alectryon excelsus Gaertn. and Dodonaea viscosa Jacquin is described. The woods are diffuse-porous with mostly distinct rings in A. excelsus, and indistinct to poorly defined rings in D. viscosa. Vessels are predominantly solitary in A. excelsus, but in D. viscosa they occur mainly in short radial multiples. Vessels have exclusively simple perforations, small alternate to randomly arranged intervascular pits, and fine spiral thickening. Vessel pits to rays are similar to intervascular pits. Vascular tracheids with fine spiral thickening are present in A. excelsus. Axial parenchyma is abundant to sparse, and is mainly scanty paratracheal and vasicentric. Initial parenchyma is occasional and may be poorly developed. Paratracheal banded, diffuse-in-aggregates, and diffuse parenchyma also occur in D. viscosa. Rhomboidal crystals in chambered strands are confined to the diffuse types in D. viscosa. Rays are mainly homogeneous in both species. They are predominantly uniseriate in A. excelsus, and commonly 1–3 cells wide in D. viscosa. In A. excelsus, fibres are thin- to thick-walled in earlywood and very thick-walled in latewood. Intercellular spaces are mainly associated with thin- to thick-wallcd fibres In D. viscosa, fibres are very thick-walled throughout the width of a ring. In both species, simple to almost simple pits are present mostly on radial walls. Septate fibres are present in A. excelsus. The wood of A. excelsus is distinguished from that of D. viscosa by having distinct rings, mostly solitary vessels, vascular tracheids, predominantly uniseriate rays, intercellular spaces between fibres, and septate fibres.

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