Abstract

The differences in anatomical characteristics viz., vessel length, vessel diameter, vessel arrangement, vessel frequency, ray height, ray width, ray frequency, fibre length, fibre diameter, fibre wall thickness and fibre lumen width of one, two, three, four and five year old Melia dubia cav. respectively were investigated. The wood samples were systematically collected from the pith, middle and periphery wood sections of the radial positions. The mean values of vessel length (235.68, 250.72, 272.76, 292.01 and 329.57 µm), vessel diameter (192.57, 207.11, 231.10, 247.54 and 276.96 µm), vessel frequency (4.00, 4.00, 4.00, 5.00 and 5.00 mm²), ray height (336.65, 356.56, 377.82, 399.15 and 438.23 µm), ray width (71.73, 77.00, 84.53, 91.73 and 98.66 µm), ray frequency (7.00, 8.00, 8.00, 10.00 and 11.00), fibre length (647.00, 825.00, 892.78, 1093.92 and 1159.30 µm), fibre diameter (24.00, 24.90, 26.01, 26.75 and 27.52 µm), fibre wall thickness (4.07, 5.29, 6.49, 7.62 and 9.08 µm) and fibre lumen width (15.87, 14.32, 13.03, 11.52 and 9.35 µm) for one, two, three, four and five year old M. dubia wood respectively. All parameters showed significant increment with respect to increase in age and also all the anatomical characteristics examined in this study increased significantly from pith to periphery except lumen width. The effects of age and radial positions contributed significantly to variations in anatomical characteristics of M. dubia wood.

Key words: Melia dubia, vessels, rays, fibre, age gradation.