Botanic
Garden Auction Features Woods of the World
Northampton,
Mass.—The
Botanic Garden will auction off the remnant pieces of a wide
variety of exotic woods from the its Woods of the World exhibition
during a silent auction Friday, Feb. 12, in the Church Exhibition
Gallery at Lyman Conservatory. Bidding will take place from
7 to 8 p.m.
 The auction will offer wood
pieces from 150 species in the facility’s permanent display. Sizes up for bid are
.
Bidding prices will start at half the original cost to the Botanic Garden (pro-rated
to size). All pieces of one species will be sold in one lot.
The remnant pieces
are best suited for small woodworking projects or for a collection.
Some pieces may be of particular interest, such as kauri
(Agathis australis), which was preserved in a New Zealand
bog and is thought to be 50,000 years old. There are pieces
with very beautiful colors, like the purple purpleheart (Peltogyne
paniculata), pinkish-red and brown chatke-kok (Simira
salvadorensis),
black ebony (Diospyros sp.), red bloodwood (Brosimum
sp.),
yellow yellowheart (Euxylophora paraensis) and orange African
padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii). Others have unique grain,
like lacewood (Grevilla robusta), snakewood (Brosimum
guianense),
zebrawood (Microberilinia brazzavillensis), Tasmanian blackheart
(Atherosperma moschatum), tulipwood (Dalbergia
frutescens)
and zircote (Cordia dodecandra). A few figured woods include
ambrosia maple (Acer rubrum) and spalted empress tree (Paulownia
tomentosa) and we have woods that are hard to find and expensive
to buy like boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) and European olive
(Olea europaea).
The Church Exhibition Gallery
will open at 6 p.m. for the silent auction wood viewing.
Bidding will start at 7. Only cash or checks will be accepted.
The Lyman Conservatory is wheelchair-accessible
and there is one handicapped parking space in front. Parking
will be permitted along the pond side of College Lane during
the auction.
In case of inclement weather,
the event will take place February 19, same time and place.
For more information, call 585-2732 or visit www.smith.edu/garden.
|
