35

5(3): Timber trees; Lesser-known timbers

Norrisia Gardner

Hook. Journ. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 1: 326 (1849).

LOGANIACEAE

x = unknown; 2n = unknown

Malaysia: kelat (Peninsular), menaseh (Sarawak).

Norrisia comprises 2 species confined to the western Malesian region. They occur in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines.

The wood of Norrisia is used for construction under cover and flooring. Tool handles and oars are made from the buttresses. In Sarawak the Iban value the wood for boat building.

Norrisia wood is not economically important and is used only locally.

Norrisia yields a lightweight hardwood with a density of 380-490 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. Heartwood pale yellow, the included phloem sometimes visible as white streaks on the radial surfaces, not clearly differentiated from the sapwood; grain straight; texture slightly coarse and uneven due to the radial groups of vessels and islands of included phloem. Growth rings not observed; vessels moderately small to medium-sized, almost exclusively in radial multiples of 2-5(-14), with very long radial multiples in Norrisia malaccensis; parenchyma scarce, not visible, even with a hand lens; rays extremely fine; ripple marks absent; included phloem occurring as numerous, small, round to oval islands, diffusely scattered.
The wood is soft to moderately hard, moderately strong and non-durable.
See also the table on microscopic wood anatomy.

Evergreen, medium-sized to large trees, up to 50 m tall; bole usually angular and sometimes poorly shaped, up to 100 cm in diameter, with buttresses up to 5 m high; bark surface smooth to cracking or finely fissured, grey or grey-brown, inner bark yellowish-brown or pale yellowish-brown with a pink tinge. Leaves opposite, simple, entire, connected by small stipules. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, thyrsoid to dichasially branched, many-flowered, rusty tomentose. Flowers 5-merous, subsessile; calyx with a short tube; corolla salver-shaped, cream to yellowish, tomentose outside, the lobes valvate in bud; stamens inserted on the tube in between the corolla lobes and far exserted; ovary superior, 2-locular with many ovules, stigma slightly bilobed. Fruit a 2-valved, tomentose capsule with few to many, small, spindle-shaped seeds.
Flowers and fruits have been observed almost throughout the year. Pollination is probably by insects. The tiny seeds are likely to be dispersed by wind.
The two species are very similar and some confusion has occurred in literature, making it sometimes impossible to attribute certain features to either one of them.

Norrisia occurs scattered or locally gregarious in primary and secondary lowland rain forest, up to about 900 m altitude. It is often found along rivers, in swamp forest or periodically inundated locations, but also in well-drained habitats like mixed dipterocarp forest, on both clayey and sandy soils. Norrisia malaccensis has been reported forming pure stands in old secondary forest.

There are no records of ex situ conservation of Norrisia.

Research on wood characteristics and propagation of Norrisia is a prerequisite for a potential increase in the use of the wood. No such increase is foreseen in the near future.

Ashton, P.S., 1988. Manual of the non-dipterocarp trees of Sarawak. Vol. 2. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur. 490 pp.
Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd edition. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur. Vol. 1 (A-H) pp. 1-1240. Vol. 2 (I-Z) pp. 1241-2444.
Cockburn, P.F., 1976-1980. Trees of Sabah. 2 volumes. Sabah Forest Records No 10. Forest Department Sabah, Sandakan.
Desch, H.E., 1941-1954. Manual of Malayan timbers. Malayan Forest Records No 15. 2 volumes. Malaya Publishing House Ltd., Singapore. 762 pp.
Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1981-. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London.
Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlands-Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition. 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch-Indië. 1953 pp. (3rd edition, 1950. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage/Bandung. 1660 pp.).
Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1981-. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London.
Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlands-Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition. 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch-Indië. 1953 pp. (3rd edition, 1950. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage/Bandung. 1660 pp.
Leeuwenberg, A.J.M. & Leenhouts, P.W., 1980. 2. Taxonomy. In: Leeuwenberg, A.J.M. (Editor): Angiospermae: Ordnung Gentianales. Fam. Loganiaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 28, b, I. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin. pp 8-96.
Mennega, A.M.W., 1980. Anatomy of the secondary xylem. In: Leeuwenberg, A.J.M. (Editor): Angiospermae: Ordnung Gentianales. Fam. Loganiaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 28, b, I. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin. pp. 112-161.
Oey Djoen Seng, 1951. De soortelijke gewichten van Indonesische houtsoorten en hun betekenis voor de praktijk [Specific gravity of Indonesian woods and its significance for practical use]. Rapport No 46. Bosbouwproefstation, Bogor. 183 pp.
Salvosa, F.M., 1963. Lexicon of Philippine trees. Bulletin No 1. Forest Products Research Institute, College, Laguna. 136 pp.
Smythies, B.E., 1965. Common Sarawak trees. Borneo Literature Bureau, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong. 153 pp.
Soepadmo, E., Wong, K.M. & Saw, L.G. (Editors), 1995-. Tree flora of Sabah and Sarawak. Sabah Forestry Department, Forest Research Institute Malaysia and Sarawak Forestry Department, Kepong.
Whitmore, T.C. & Ng, F.S.P. (Editors), 1972-1989. Tree flora of Malaya. A manual for foresters. 4 volumes. Malayan Forest Records No 26. Longman Malaysia Sdn. Berhad, Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya.
Wyatt-Smith, J. & Kochummen, K.M., 1964. Pocket check list of timber trees, 2nd edition. Malayan Forest Records No 17. Nan Yang Press, Kuala Lumpur. 428 + 126 pp.

Isa Ipor

Norrisia maior
Norrisia malaccensis

Ipor, I., 1998. Norrisia Gardner. In: Sosef, M.S.M., Hong, L.T. and Prawirohatmodjo, S. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(3): Timber trees; Lesser-known timbers. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea

The following species in this genus are important in this commodity group and are treated separatedly in this database:
Norrisia maior
Norrisia malaccensis