WOOD ANATOMY OF TREES AND SHRUBS FROM CHINA .5. ANACARDIACEAE

The wood anatomy of twenty species belonging to eleven genera of Anaca rdiaceae native to or commonly cultivated in China is described in det ail and a generic wood anatomical key is given. The wood anatomical di versity pattern partly agrees with the traditional classification into the tribes Anacardieae (Anacardium, Buchanania, and Mangifera), Spond ieae (Choerospondias, Dracontomelon, Lannea, and Spondias) and Rhoidea e (Cotinus, Pistacia, Rhus, and Toxicodendron). Rhus, Cotinus and Pist acia are largely extratropical and share a syndrome of ecologically co rrelated characters: spiral vessel wall thickenings (at least in the n arrow vessels), oblique to dendritic latewood vessel distribution, rin g-porosity, and narrow fibres. Within Toxicodendron two wood anatomica l types are apparent coinciding with a temperate (T. vernicifluum) ver sus tropical (other species studied) distribution. Yet the generic sta tus of Toxicodendron, distinct from Rhus, is supported by its frequent coalescent inter-vessel pit apertures. The ring-porous T. vernicifluu m moreover lacks the clustering or oblique patterning of latewood vess els typical of ring-porous species of Rhus.