ECOLOGICAL WOOD ANATOMY OF Blepharocalyx salicifolius (H. B. K.) Berg

O presente trabalho visa \ue0 compara\ue7\ue3o anat\uf4mica da madeira da murta Blepharocalyx salicifolius (H. B. K.) Berg (Myrtaceae), em duas regi\uf5es do Rio Grande do Sul. Foram coletados seis exemplares da esp\ue9cie; tr\ueas na regi\ue3o da Serra do Sudeste e os demais nos Campos de Cima da Serra. Qualitativamente, a madeira n\ue3o revelou diferen\ue7as expressivas entre as proced\ueancias, exceto pela presen\ue7a de m\ue1culas medulares. Sob o ponto de vista de suas caracter\uedsticas quantitativas, foram encontradas diferen\ue7as importantes na estrutura de vasos, par\ueanquima axial, raios e fibras. As amostras da "Serra do Sudeste" mostraram caracter\uedsticas x\ue9ricas no lenho: poros numerosos e pequenos, al\ue9m de elementos vasculares e fibras de comprimento menor, diferentemente das amostras dos "Campos de Cima da Serra". Quanto ao \uedndice de vulnerabilidade, n\ue3o foi encontrada diferen\ue7a significativa entre as proced\ueancias. As altera\ue7\uf5es verificadas no lenho podem ser interpretadas como resposta adaptativa da esp\ue9cie aos respectivos ambientes.The purpose of this work is the comparison of the wood anatomy of Blepharocalyx salicifolius (H. B. K.) Berg (Myrtaceae) from two provenances in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. There were collected 6 samples of wood; three from "Serra do Sudeste" and the others from "Campos de Cima da Serra". The wood anatomical features did not express relevant differences between provenances, with the exception of pith flecks. With respect to the quantitative features, on the other hand, there were found important differences in the structure of vessels, axial parenchyma, rays and fibres. For the "Serra do Sudeste" samples, there were found xeric evidences in the wood: a larger number of small vessels, besides shorter vessel members and fibres, in comparison with those from the "Campos de Cima da Serra" region. The differences in the wood anatomy may be interpreted as adaptative responses to environmental conditions