Anatomical characterization of the wood of four species of Vochysiaceae, known in the Brazilian Amazon as “mandioqueira”

Abstract

Among the timber species from the Brazilian Amazon, commercialized due to their multiple possibilities of use, are Qualea paraensis Ducke, Qualea acuminata Spruce ex Warm., Qualea dinizii Ducke and Ruizterania albiflora (Warm.) Marc.-Berti, from the family Vochysiaceae A. St.-Hil., all popularly known as “mandioqueira”. The objective of this work was to characterize them under the macroscopic and microscopic anatomical aspect of the wood, emphasizing the qualitative and quantitative characteristics, aiming to subsidize the identification of this taxon. The studied species were selected from the collection of Embrapa Amazônia Oriental Xylotheque and the descriptions of the anatomical characters followed the rules recommended in the wood anatomy. The quantitative characteristics were subjected to statistical analysis. From the results, it was possible to distinguish the species by qualitative characteristics (of the vessels, parenchyma and rays), and quantitative characteristics (of the vessels, rays and fibers), which allowed to approach the secondary xylem of Ruizterania albiflora to that of Qualea paraensis, with Qualea acuminate, being close of both species and Qualea dinizii differing from the others. The results obtained here highlight the wood anatomy like an important tool to be utilized on the reliable identification and distinction of the species known as “mandioqueira”, mainly in the absence of other complementary botanical material.

Keywords:
Amazon rainforest; Wood anatomy; Potential timber