Ventilago

Voucher:   Ventilago viminalis Hook. JAB166

Family:  Rhamnaceae  Common name(s):  Barndaragu, supplejack, thandorah, vinetree

Habit:  Tree to 10 m tall, with single trunk or several intertwined trunks.  Distribution: New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and north Western Australia.

General features: Density 1000 kg/m3.   Heartwood reddish and darker than sapwood.

Microscopic features:

Vessels  Tangential vessel diameter: range 18-110 µm; mean 60 µm; SD 19 µm; average maximum 65-94 µm; n =   265 vessels.  Vessels per square millimetre: range 18-55 vessels per mm2 ; n = 10 sampled areas.  Vessels arranged in radial multiples usually of 2-3 vessels.  Perforation plates simple.

Axial parenchyma   Axial parenchyma paratracheal and scanty to vasicentric. 

Rays  Rays 1-5 cells wide with uniseriate rays present (n = 161 rays).  Rays of uniform width and not wider than vessels.  Rays 13-20 per tangential mm (n =   11 sampled areas).  Ray height: range 72-516  µm; mean 257 µm; SD 122 µm; n =   94 rays.  Rays heterocellular or homocellular?   Abundant prismatic crystals in ray cells.  

Physical and chemical tests:  Chrome azurol-s test negative.   Heartwood fluorescence present.    Froth test weakly positive.   Ethanol extract fluorescence present (green). Ethanol extract discoloured.  Water extract discoloured.   Water extract fluorescence absent.

Helical thickenings  Absent.

Uses: 

Aboriginal  Small spears (Latz 1995); boomerangs (Bindon 1996)

Notes:  Heartwood-dependent characters are not assessed for wood where heartwood is absent or visually indiscernible from sapwood until such time it can be reliably determined that heartwood is present.