Abstract
Although not the lightest known wood, balsa is the lightest commercial timber, and as such has found utilization in the manufacture of airplanes, life preservers, insulating equipment and packing crates. During recent war years Ecuador supplied 95 percent of world production but must now meet competition from wild and cultivated sources in Central America and Ceylon.
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Fletcher, M.I. Balsa—Production and utilization . Econ Bot 5, 107–125 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02984770
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02984770