Record Number
3708
PROSEA Handbook Number
5(1): Timber trees; Major commercial timbers
Taxon
Pinus merkusii Junghuhn & de Vriese
This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Pinus in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.
This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Pinus in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.
Protologue
Pl. Nov. Ind. Bat. Or.: 5, t. 2 (1845).
Synonyms
Pinus sumatrana Junghuhn (1846), Pinus merkusiana Cooling & Gaussen (1970).
Vernacular Names
Merkus pine, Mindoro pine, Sumatran pine (En). Indonesia: damar batu, damar bunga, uyam (Aceh, Sumatra). Philippines: tapulau (Sambali, Tagalog). Thailand: son-songbai, son-haang-maa (central), kai-plueak-dam (northern). Vietnam: th[oo]ng nh[uwj]a, th[oo]ng hai l[as].
Distribution
Eastern Burma, Indo-China, southern China, northern Thailand, the Philippines (Mindoro, western Luzon), Sumatra (Aceh, Tapanuli, Kerintji mountain); commonly planted in South-East Asia.
Uses
Merkus pine is a general-purpose timber; it can also be used for construction work, flooring and boat building as it is fairly durable and heavy. Good quality oleoresin is collected from this species, often on plantation scale. The tree is used to shade out alang-alang grass with fairly good results.
Observations
A large tree up to 50(—70) m tall with a straight and cylindrical bole free of branches for 15—25 m and an average diameter of 55 cm, but occasionally up to 140 cm, thick bark which forms plates and is grey-brown underneath, but scaly and more reddish tinged upwards, and heavy horizontal or ascending branches; needles in pairs, slender but rigid, 16—25 cm long, with persistent basal sheaths; cones solitary or in pairs, almost sessile, cylindrical, 5—11 cm long, after opening twice as thick and ovoid, generally falling off soon; apophysis broadly tetragonal with a smooth, almost depressed umbo; seed small with a deciduous wing of c. 2.5 cm long. Merkus pines of the Asian mainland and the Philippines differ slightly from those of Sumatra: the seedlings have a 'grass stage', the needles are slightly longer, the cones are less cylindrical, and the seeds nearly twice as heavy. Pinus merkusii is locally common in northern Sumatra up to 2000 m altitude. It is the southernmost occurring pine of all pines, and the only one whose natural distribution extends into the southern hemishpere. See also the table on wood properties.
Image
 | Pinus merkusii Junghuhn & de Vriese - 1, tree habit; 2, twig with young female cones; 3, pair of needles; 4, mature female cone |
Selected Sources
[10]All Nippon Checkers Corporation, 1989. Illustrated commercial foreign woods in Japan. Tokyo. 262 pp.
[102]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.
[145]Chudnoff, M., 1984. Tropical timbers of the world. Agricultural Handbook 607. USDA Forest Service, Washington, D.C. 464 pp.
[149]Cooling, E.N.G., 1968. Pinus merkusii. Fast growing timber trees of the lowland tropics No 4. Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford. 169 pp.
[153]Corner, E.J.H., 1988. Wayside trees of Malaya. 3rd edition. 2 volumes. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. 774 pp.
[157]Critchfield, W.B. & Little, E.L., 1966. Geographic distribution of the pines of the world. Miscellaneous Publications 991. USDA Forest Service, Washington, D.C. 97 pp.
[159]Dahms, K.-G., 1982. Asiatische, Ozeanische und Australische Exporthölzer [Asiatic, Pacific and Australian export timbers]. DRW-Verlag, Stuttgart. 304 pp.
[163]Dallimore, W. & Jackson, A.B., 1966. A handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae. 4th edition. Revised by S.G. Harisson. Edward Arnold Ltd., London. xix + 729 pp.
[224]Farjon, A., 1984. Pines: drawings and descriptions of the genus Pinus. E.J. Brill, Leiden. 220 pp.
[225]Farjon, A., 1990. A bibliography of Conifers. Regnum Vegetabile 122. Koeltz Scientific Books, Königstein. 129 pp.
[230]Ferguson, J.H.A., 1953. Growth and yield of Pinus merkusii in Indonesia. Tectona 43: 21–36.
[283]Granhof, J.J., 1978. Early development of Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese at high elevation in North Thailand. In: Nikles, D.G., Burley, J. & Barnes, R.D. (Editors): Progress and problems of genetic improvement of tropical forest trees. Proceedings of a joint workshop IUFRO working parties S202-08 and S203-01, Brisbane. 2 volumes. Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford. pp. 694–698.
[284]Granhof, J.J., 1978. Review of Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese contributions. In: Nikles, D.G., Burley, J. & Barnes, R.D. (Editors): Progress and problems of genetic improvement of tropical forest trees. Proceedings of a joint workshop IUFRO working parties S202-08 and S203-01, Brisbane. 2 volumes. Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford. pp. 714–721.
[288]Greathouse, T.E., 1973. Pilot plantations for quick-growing industrial tree species, Malaysia. Tree improvement in Malaysian conifer plantations. FAO Report No FO: SF/MAL 12, Technical Report 8. 45 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.
[330]Howcroft, N.H.S., 1978. Progress in preliminary tree improvement and seed production programme with Pinus merkusii Jungh. et de Vriese in Papua New Guinea. In: Nikles, D.G., Burley, J. & Barnes, R.D. (Editors): Progress and problems of genetic improvement of tropical forest trees. Proceedings of a joint workshop IUFRO working parties S202-08 and S203-01, Brisbane. 2 volumes. Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford. pp. 699–706.
[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.
[396]Lamprecht, H., 1989. Silviculture in the tropics. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn. 296 pp.
[417]Lee, Y.H., Engku Abdul Rahman & Chu, Y.P., 1979. The strength properties of some Malaysian timbers. Revised edition. Malaysian Forest Service Trade Leaflet No 34. Malaysian Timber Industry Board, Kuala Lumpur. 107 pp.
[462]Martawijaya, A. et al., 1989. Atlas kayu Indonesia [Indonesian wood atlas]. Vol. 2. Departemen Kehutanan, Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Kehutanan, Bogor. 167 pp.
[464]Martini, M., 1982. Mycorrhiza for afforestation with Pinus merkusii and how it influences other pine species. Training course on mycorrhiza. Provisional Report No 12, Malaysia and IFS Sweden. pp. 167–174.
[487]Mindawati, N., 1988. The growth rate of four forest tree species in the alang-alang (Imperata cylindrica Beauv.) area of Jampang Tengal, Sukabumi. Buletin Penelitian Hutan 494: 31–39.
[488]Mirov, N.T., 1967. The genus Pinus. Ronald Press Company, New York. 602 pp.
[517]Nguyen-kha, 1965. Les forêts de Pinus khasya et de Pinus merkusii du Centre-Vietnam. Etude de la dynamique des sols en liaison avec celle de la végétation [Pinus khasya and Pinus merkusii forests of Central Vietnam. Study of the soil dynamics in relation to that of the vegetation]. Faculté de Science, Université de Nancy.
[519]Noerhadi, E. & Wirjodarmodjo, H., 1980. Vegetative propagation of Tectona grandis L. and Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese using tissue culture. Duta Rimba 6(42): 11–15.
[579]Reyes, L.J., 1938. Philippine woods. Technical Bulletin No 7. Commonwealth of the Philippines, Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 536 pp. + 88 plates.
[660]Suhardi, 1984. Effect of type inocula and phosphate levels on mycorrhizal formation and initial growth of Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese seedlings in two types of soils. University of the Philippines, Laguna. Master thesis. 87 pp.
[722]van Alphen de Veer, E.J., 1953. Plantations of Pinus merkusii as a means of reafforestation in Indonesia. Tectona 43: 119–130.
[748]van Steenis, C.G.G.J. & de Wilde, W.J.J.O. (Editors), 1950–. Flora Malesiana. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London.
[764]Webb, D.B. et al., 1984. A guide to species selection for tropical and sub-tropical plantations. 2nd ed. Tropical Forestry Papers No 15. Unit of Tropical Silviculture, Commonwealth Forestry Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford. 256 pp.
[102]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.
[145]Chudnoff, M., 1984. Tropical timbers of the world. Agricultural Handbook 607. USDA Forest Service, Washington, D.C. 464 pp.
[149]Cooling, E.N.G., 1968. Pinus merkusii. Fast growing timber trees of the lowland tropics No 4. Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford. 169 pp.
[153]Corner, E.J.H., 1988. Wayside trees of Malaya. 3rd edition. 2 volumes. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. 774 pp.
[157]Critchfield, W.B. & Little, E.L., 1966. Geographic distribution of the pines of the world. Miscellaneous Publications 991. USDA Forest Service, Washington, D.C. 97 pp.
[159]Dahms, K.-G., 1982. Asiatische, Ozeanische und Australische Exporthölzer [Asiatic, Pacific and Australian export timbers]. DRW-Verlag, Stuttgart. 304 pp.
[163]Dallimore, W. & Jackson, A.B., 1966. A handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae. 4th edition. Revised by S.G. Harisson. Edward Arnold Ltd., London. xix + 729 pp.
[224]Farjon, A., 1984. Pines: drawings and descriptions of the genus Pinus. E.J. Brill, Leiden. 220 pp.
[225]Farjon, A., 1990. A bibliography of Conifers. Regnum Vegetabile 122. Koeltz Scientific Books, Königstein. 129 pp.
[230]Ferguson, J.H.A., 1953. Growth and yield of Pinus merkusii in Indonesia. Tectona 43: 21–36.
[283]Granhof, J.J., 1978. Early development of Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese at high elevation in North Thailand. In: Nikles, D.G., Burley, J. & Barnes, R.D. (Editors): Progress and problems of genetic improvement of tropical forest trees. Proceedings of a joint workshop IUFRO working parties S202-08 and S203-01, Brisbane. 2 volumes. Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford. pp. 694–698.
[284]Granhof, J.J., 1978. Review of Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese contributions. In: Nikles, D.G., Burley, J. & Barnes, R.D. (Editors): Progress and problems of genetic improvement of tropical forest trees. Proceedings of a joint workshop IUFRO working parties S202-08 and S203-01, Brisbane. 2 volumes. Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford. pp. 714–721.
[288]Greathouse, T.E., 1973. Pilot plantations for quick-growing industrial tree species, Malaysia. Tree improvement in Malaysian conifer plantations. FAO Report No FO: SF/MAL 12, Technical Report 8. 45 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.
[330]Howcroft, N.H.S., 1978. Progress in preliminary tree improvement and seed production programme with Pinus merkusii Jungh. et de Vriese in Papua New Guinea. In: Nikles, D.G., Burley, J. & Barnes, R.D. (Editors): Progress and problems of genetic improvement of tropical forest trees. Proceedings of a joint workshop IUFRO working parties S202-08 and S203-01, Brisbane. 2 volumes. Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford. pp. 699–706.
[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.
[396]Lamprecht, H., 1989. Silviculture in the tropics. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn. 296 pp.
[417]Lee, Y.H., Engku Abdul Rahman & Chu, Y.P., 1979. The strength properties of some Malaysian timbers. Revised edition. Malaysian Forest Service Trade Leaflet No 34. Malaysian Timber Industry Board, Kuala Lumpur. 107 pp.
[462]Martawijaya, A. et al., 1989. Atlas kayu Indonesia [Indonesian wood atlas]. Vol. 2. Departemen Kehutanan, Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Kehutanan, Bogor. 167 pp.
[464]Martini, M., 1982. Mycorrhiza for afforestation with Pinus merkusii and how it influences other pine species. Training course on mycorrhiza. Provisional Report No 12, Malaysia and IFS Sweden. pp. 167–174.
[487]Mindawati, N., 1988. The growth rate of four forest tree species in the alang-alang (Imperata cylindrica Beauv.) area of Jampang Tengal, Sukabumi. Buletin Penelitian Hutan 494: 31–39.
[488]Mirov, N.T., 1967. The genus Pinus. Ronald Press Company, New York. 602 pp.
[517]Nguyen-kha, 1965. Les forêts de Pinus khasya et de Pinus merkusii du Centre-Vietnam. Etude de la dynamique des sols en liaison avec celle de la végétation [Pinus khasya and Pinus merkusii forests of Central Vietnam. Study of the soil dynamics in relation to that of the vegetation]. Faculté de Science, Université de Nancy.
[519]Noerhadi, E. & Wirjodarmodjo, H., 1980. Vegetative propagation of Tectona grandis L. and Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese using tissue culture. Duta Rimba 6(42): 11–15.
[579]Reyes, L.J., 1938. Philippine woods. Technical Bulletin No 7. Commonwealth of the Philippines, Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 536 pp. + 88 plates.
[660]Suhardi, 1984. Effect of type inocula and phosphate levels on mycorrhizal formation and initial growth of Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese seedlings in two types of soils. University of the Philippines, Laguna. Master thesis. 87 pp.
[722]van Alphen de Veer, E.J., 1953. Plantations of Pinus merkusii as a means of reafforestation in Indonesia. Tectona 43: 119–130.
[748]van Steenis, C.G.G.J. & de Wilde, W.J.J.O. (Editors), 1950–. Flora Malesiana. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London.
[764]Webb, D.B. et al., 1984. A guide to species selection for tropical and sub-tropical plantations. 2nd ed. Tropical Forestry Papers No 15. Unit of Tropical Silviculture, Commonwealth Forestry Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford. 256 pp.
Author(s)
M.S.M. Sosef
Correct Citation of this Article
Sosef, M.S.M., 1993. Pinus merkusii Junghuhn & de Vriese. 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
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