3351

5(1): Timber trees; Major commercial timbers

Anisoptera costata Korth.

This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Anisoptera in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.

Temminck, Verh. Natuurl. Gesch. Ned. Overz. Bez., Botanie, Kruidk.: 67 (1841).

Anisoptera cochinchinensis Pierre (1886), Anisoptera marginatoides Heim (1902), Anisoptera mindanensis Foxw. (1918).

Brunei: mersawa kesat. Indonesia: masegar (Sumatra), mersawa daun lebar (Java), ketimpun (Kalimantan). Malaysia: mersawa kesat, mersawa terbak (Peninsular), pengiran kesat (Sabah). Philippines: Mindanao palosapis (general), balingan (Sulu). Burma: kaban-thangyin. Cambodia: phdiek, phdiek krâham, phdiek sâ. Laos: bak, maiz bak. Thailand: krabak (central), krabak khok (north-eastern), krabak daeng (peninsular). Vietnam: v[ee]n v[ee]n, v[ee]n v[ee]n tr[aws]ng, v[ee]n v[ee]n xanh.

Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, southern Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, western Java, Borneo and the Philippines.

The wood is used as mersawa. It is suitable for interior finish, ship planking, general construction, wooden tanks, tight cooperage, and veneer and plywood.

A large to very large tree up to 50(-65) m tall, bole cylindrical, branchless for up to 35 m and up to 150 cm in diameter, with few buttresses of up to 4 m high and spreading out up to 2.5 m, continuing up the bole as ribs up to 10 m high, bark greyish-brown; leaves 6-18 cm 7-11 cm , oblong to obovate, dull yellowish or greenish lepidote beneath, with 8-22 pairs of secondary veins hardly or not depressed above; flower bud ovoid, acute, stamens about 25, stylopodium cylindrical, densely pubescent. Anisoptera costata is a very variable species (forms vary from apilose to densely pilose) which possibly hybridizes with Anisoptera curtisii. Anisoptera costata grows commonly, often gregariously, in semi-evergreen dipterocarp forest and evergreen forest in seasonal areas and is rare but widespread in lowland forest of humid areas; up to 700 m altitude. The density of the wood is 460-850 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

[30]Ashton, P.S., 1964. A manual of the dipterocarp trees of Brunei State. Oxford University Press, London. xii + 242 pp.
[100]Burgess, P.F., 1966. Timbers of Sabah. Sabah Forest Records No 6. Forest Department, Sabah, Sandakan. xviii + 501 pp.
[175]de Guzman, E, R. M. Umali, & E.D. Sotalbo, 1986. Guide to Philippine flora and fauna. Vol. 3: dipterocarps, non-dipterocarps. Natural Resources Management Center, Ministry of Natural Resources & University of the Philippines, Manila. xx + 414 pp.
[235]Flore du Cambodge du Laos et du Viêtnam (various editors), 1960–. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
[258]Fundter, J.M., 1982. Names for dipterocarp timbers and trees from Asia. Pudoc, Wageningen. 251 pp.
[318]Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlands-Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd ed. 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch-Indië, 's-Gravenhage. 1953 pp.
[359]Keating, W.G. & Bolza, E., 1982. Characteristics, properties and uses of timbers. Vol. 1. South-East Asia, Northern Australia and the Pacific. Inkata Press Proprietary Ltd., Melbourne, Sydney & London. 362 pp.
[442]Lopez, D.T., 1981. Malaysian timbers – mersawa. Malaysian Forest Service Trade Leaflet No 56. Malaysian Timber Industry Board, Kuala Lumpur. 8 pp.
[461]Martawijaya, A. et al., 1986. Indonesian wood atlas. Vol. 1. Forestry Products and Development Centre, Bogor. 166 pp.
[465]Masano, A.H., 1988. Perkecambahan benih Anisoptera costata Korth. [Seed germination of Anisoptera costata Korth.]. Buletin Penelitian Hutan 498: 11–21.
[561]Prawira, S.A. & Tantra, I.G.M., 1970. Pengenalan djenis-djenis pohon ekspor [Introduction to export timber tree species], serie KE: II. Laporan No 108. Lembaga Penelitian Hutan, Bogor. 32 pp.
[625]Smitinand, T., 1980. Thai plant names. Royal Forest Department, Bangkok. 379 pp.
[628]Smitinand, T., Santisuk, T. & Phengklai, C., 1980. The manual of Dipterocarpaceae of mainland South-East Asia. Thai Forestry Bulletin 12: 1–110.
[677]Symington, C.F., 1941. Foresters' manual of dipterocarps. Malayan Forest Records No 16. Forest Department, Kuala Lumpur. pp. xliii + 244.
[748]van Steenis, C.G.G.J. & de Wilde, W.J.J.O. (Editors), 1950–. Flora Malesiana. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London.
[753]Vidal, J., 1962. Noms vernaculaires de plantes en usage au Laos [Plant vernacular names used in Laos]. Ecole française d'extreme-Orient, Paris. 197 pp.
[804]Wyatt-Smith, J., 1955. The Dipterocarpaceae of Brunei, N. Borneo and Sarawak. I. Anisoptera. Malayan Forester 18: 72–79.
[807]Wyatt-Smith, J. & Kochummen, K.M., 1979. Pocket check list of timber trees. 3rd ed. Malayan Forest Records No 17. Nan Yang Press, Kuala Lumpur. 428 + 126 pp.

M.H.A. Hoffman

Hoffman, M.H.A., 1993. Anisoptera costata Korth.. In: Soerianegara, I. and Lemmens, R.H.M.J. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(1): Timber trees; Major commercial timbers. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea