Wood Anatomy of Lecythidaceae Species Called “Tauari”

IAWA Journal, Vol. 32 (1), 2011: 97–112 WOOD ANATOMY OF LECYTHIDACEAE SPECIES CALLED “TAUARI” Rocío A. Bernal1*, Vera Coradin2, José Camargos2, Cecília Costa3 and José Pissarra1 SUMMARY Woods from an important group of Lecythidaceae species called “tauari” can hardly be identified in the field by their gross and general features. In this study we show that, when properly delimited to the genera Allantoma, Cariniana and Couratari, wood anatomical characteristics can be used to identify the species known as “tauari”, even though it is not possible to separate all species. In addition to anatomical characters, wood colour is an important character to help distinguish species of Cariniana and Allantoma from species of Couratari. Detailed wood anatomical descriptions from “tauari” woods Allantoma, Cariniana and Couratari are given and a table with diagnostic differences is presented. Common characters of this group are axial parenchyma in narrow continuous bands, prismatic crystals in chambered axial parenchyma cells and silica bodies in ray cells. Microscopic features that help in species identification are: fibre pitting (minutely or distinctly bordered), traumatic intercellular canals, average vessel diameter, vessel element length, axial parenchyma strand length, and ray height and width. Key words: Allantoma, Cariniana, Couratari, Lecythidaceae, Tauari, wood anatomy. INTRODUCTION Man has always identified and classified woods according to their appearance, properties and uses. Nowadays accurate wood identification depends mainly on microscopic features (Wheeler & Baas 1998), while gross features such as colour, odour, and texture can be quite variable but also provide useful information. “Tauari” (native Tupi word meaning “big forest trees”) is a tropical timber very com- monly harvested in the Amazon Basin. It is widely commercialised and exported due to its good physical and mechanical properties and easy workability. However, woods from several species and different origin are grouped under the name “tauari” and commercial lots are usually composed of a mixture of species. Indeed, control and super- 1) BioFIG, Departamento de Biologia - Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Edificio FC4, Rua do Campo Alegre, s/n°, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal. 2) Laboratório de Produtos Florestais, Serviço Florestal Brasileiro, SCEN Trecho 2, Ed. Sede do Ibama, Caixa Postal 09870, 708-900 Brasília, DF, Brazil. 3) Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Pacheco Leão 915, Bolsista CNPq, 22460-000 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. *) Corresponding author [E-mail: [email protected]]. Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 04:06:53PM via free access 98 IAWA Journal, Vol. 32 (1), 2011 vision offices have been reporting an increasing number of “tauari” woods in the trade (Instituto Brasileiro de Desenvolvimento Florestal 1988) not all being true “tauari” species. Procópio and Secco (2008) found eight different Lecythidaceae species grouped as “tauari” in two regions of the State of Pará in Brazil. In the Brazilian Amazon the most common method for identifying tree species in the field is through the use of local knowledge which is based on the comparison of the tree’s vegetative parts (Lacerda & Nimmo 2010). Additionally, a species called by one name in one region might not be the same in another region; moreover, one common name might be used in multiple regions but referring to different species. Therefore, the grouping of similar species under a common name masks the actual population size of the resource species. In forest inventories it may contribute to overestimates of the timber production poten- tial of commercial trees, leading in turn to lack of trust between seller and customer (Procópio & Secco 2008; Lacerda & Nimmo 2010). Identification of “tauari” wood in the field has proved to be very difficult. Macroscopic characters like external bark morphology or presence of growth rings are insufficient for accurate identification to the species level. For the correct identification of a “tauari” timber it is necessary to collect wood samples together with the corresponding herbarium vouchers, as recom- mended by Barker (2008). Unfortunately, this is not happening in most cases. Species called “tauari” are included in the Lecythidaceae, and may belong to three genera: Allantoma, Cariniana and Couratari. According to the first anatomical survey by Diehl (1935), Lecythidaceae are a homogeneous group, characterised by bands of axial parenchyma, exclusively simple perforation plates, fibres with simple to indistinctly bordered pits, alternate intervessel pitting, and two types of vessel ray pitting. Metcalfe and Chalk (1950) in a general description of Lecythidaceae wood, concluded that there is not a clear distinction of the axial parenchyma and it cannot be used as a diagnostic tool. Wood anatomical studies of “tauari” species are scarce and the anatomical characteristics of this group have to be compiled from previous generic wood descriptions. For instance, Richter (1982) compared the wood structure of Couratari and Couroupita, and showed that anatomical characters like axial parenchyma distribution, type and distribution for inorganic inclusions, especially calcium-oxalate crystals, can be used to discriminate between the two genera. Détienne and Jacquet (1983) described Neotropical genera from the Amazon region, and included information on colour, basic density, gross and microscopic features. Generic descriptions of Corythophora, Couratari, Eschweilera, Gustavia and Lecy- this species from French Guiana were presented by deZeeuw and Mori (1987). The taxonomic relationships of Neotropical Lecythidaceae with a detailed description of the characteristics of secondary xylem were studied by deZeeuw (1990). Lens et al. (2007) focused on phylogenetically informative wood characters and trends to elucidate evolutionary patterns within the family. InsideWood (2002 onwards) gives detailed wood anatomical descriptions of most tree genera of the Lecythidaceae, including Allantoma, Cariniana and Couratari. Crystals in the wood of Lecythidaceae were studied by Chattaway (1956), Richter (1982), Parameswaram and Richter (1984), deZeeuw and Mori (1987), deZeeuw Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 04:06:53PM via free access Bernal et al. — Wood anatomy of “Tauari” 99 (1990) and Lens et al. (2007). The most common type of prismatic crystals occurs in the 2–more-seriate tangential parenchyma bands and is associated with unilateral thickening of cell walls embedding the crystal on the side toward the fibre cells, leaving a cavity on the parenchyma side. The second type of crystalliferous strands are part of uniseriate parenchyma bands with fibres contacting both tangential faces of the parenchyma cells; in these strands the lateral thickening of the walls is more or less uniform. Another diagnostic wood anatomical character is the presence of silica deposits, mainly as discrete bodies in the ray cells of Allantoma, Cariniana, Couratari, Esch- weilera and Lecythis. (ter Welle 1976; deZeeuw 1990; Lens et al. 2007). Indeed, according to the literature the pattern of silica bodies in ray cells can vary from a uniform distribution to a concentration in tangential bands in association with axial parenchyma bands (Richter 1982; deZeeuw 1990). Two types of traumatic structure are found in Lecythidaceae, pith flecks and intercellular canals. The presence of canals had been recorded in various studies, Diehl (1935), Metcalfe and Chalk (1950) and deZeeuw (1990), who called them “lysigen- ous cavities”. According to the literature there are 18 plant species called “tauari” within four Neo- tropical genera belonging to the Lecythidaceae: Allantoma (3 spp.), Cariniana (4 spp.), Table 1. List of species from the family Lecythidaceae called Tauari. The first common name is the most used. Species Common name Allantoma decandra Tauari-cariri, tauari-vermelho, tauari Allantoma integrifolia (2) Jequitibá-do-amazonas, tauari Allantoma lineata Tauari-seru, seru, tauari Cariniana domestica Jequitibá-do-mato-grosso, jequitibá, tauari Cariniana micrantha Jequitibá-rosa, tauari, tauari-vermelho Cariniana pauciramosa (2) Tauari Cariniana rubra Jequitibá-vermelho, tauari-cachimbo Couratari atrovinosa (2) Tauari Couratari guianensis Tauari-claro, tauari-branco, tauari Couratari macrosperma Tauari Couratari multiflora Tauari, tauari-branco, tauari-amarelo Couratari oblongifolia Tauari-branco, tauari Couratari oligantha (2) Tauari Couratari stellata Tauari-escuro, tauari Couratari tauari (2) Tauari-murrão, tauari Couratari tenuicarpa Tauari, Tauari do igapó Eschweilera coriacea (1) Matamatá-giboia, matamatá, matamatá-preto, tauari-preto Eschweilera ovata (1) Matamatá-cascudo, matamatá, matamatá-preto, tauarisinho (1) Not true “Tauari” (2) Non-important commercial woods Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 04:06:53PM via free access 100 IAWA Journal, Vol. 32 (1), 2011 Couratari (9 spp.) and Eschweilera (2 spp.) (Table 1). An examination of the Esch- weilera woods reveals that they do not belong to the “tauari” group because woods from Eschweilera are brownish, heavier than “tauari”, and their vessels are predominantly solitary and filled with tyloses (Coradin, unpublished results). The most appropriate common name for Eschweilera species is “matamatá” (Camargos et al. 2001). From the other sixteen species five are not considered to be important wood sources for trading (Table 1). Therefore, eleven important commercial timber species called “tauari”,

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