4089

5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers

Cordia L.

Sp. pl. 1: 190 (1753); Gen. pl. (Ed. 5): 87 (1754).

BORAGINACEAE

x = 7, 8 or 9; Cordia dichotoma: 2n = 48

Trade groups Cordia: lightweight hardwood, Cordia dichotoma J.G. Forster and Cordia subcordata Lamk.

Cordia. Indonesia: salimuli. Malaysia: kalamet. Papua New Guinea: kerosene wood, cordia, island walnut. Philippines: balu, anonang (general). Burma (Myanmar): sandawa. Thailand: mandong, kalamet.

Cordia is a large pantropical genus of about 250 species, most of which occur in tropical America. About 7 species are indigenous to the Malesian area; several others have been introduced.

The wood is used for interior trim, light framing, posts, cabinets, furniture, musical instruments, turnery, tools and tool handles, mouldings, boats and wharves, carvings, fancy articles and rotary and sliced veneer. The attractively streaked heartwood is popular for carving and fancy articles, although it is only available in small dimensions. It is also used for fuel.
The bark and leaves are used medicinally against fever, and as a tonic. The fibres of the bark are sometimes used to make ropes. In upland rice fields the branches are used to repel termites and are also used as a green manure. The sticky juice of the fruit has been used as a glue and for gum. Cordia is also planted as a roadside tree.

Cordia timber generally has no importance as export timber, but is used locally. The logs do not usually reach a large diameter and length. If they do, they often show heart rot; this reduces the commercial value. However, the timber of Cordia subcordata is highly valued in Papua New Guinea (and the Solomon Islands) and its export as logs is banned.

Cordia wood is lightweight and moderately soft to moderately hard. The heartwood is pale brown to dark brown, in Cordia subcordata with dark brown or nearly black streaks, indistinctly (Cordia dichotoma) or distinctly (Cordia subcordata) demarcated from the sapwood. The density is 425—650 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content; Cordia dichotoma wood is lighter (425—520 kg/m³) and Cordia subcordata wood heavier (470—650 kg/m³). The grain is straight to slightly interlocked (especially in Cordia dichotoma) to interlocked (especially in Cordia subcordata), texture moderately coarse to coarse (finer in Cordia subcordata). Wood of Cordia subcordata is rather glossy.
At 12% moisture content, wood of Cordia dichotoma from Papua New Guinea showed the following mechanical properties: the modulus of rupture 64.5 N/mm², modulus of elasticity 8555 N/mm², compression parallel to grain 41.5 N/mm², shear 6—6.5 N/mm², cleavage 48 N/mm radial and 41.5 N/mm tangential, and Janka side hardness 2335—2485 N. Wood of Cordia subcordata is somewhat stronger and harder.
The rates of shrinkage are fairly low: for Cordia dichotoma wood from green to 12% moisture content 1.3—1.4% radial and 3.3—3.8% tangential, and from green to oven dry c. 2.5% radial and 6.2% tangential. The wood air dries easily without serious defects.
The wood is easy to saw and can be worked well with both hand and machine tools; it takes a good finish. It is non-durable in exposed situations and attacked by powder-post and longhorn beetles as well as decay fungi, but it is durable for interior work. The heartwood is resistant to preservative treatment, even when using a pressure treatment.

Shrubs or small to medium-sized trees, up to 30 m tall; bole usually crooked and short, up to 60(—100) cm in diameter, without buttresses; crown spreading; bark surface smooth or cracked, to fissured in older trees, grey or brown. Leaves alternate, simple, ovate to circular or cordate, distinctly stalked, glabrous, apex acute to acuminate, glossy dark green above, pale green beneath, without stipules. Inflorescence terminal, spike-like or dichotomously branched and paniculate. Flowers homomorphous or heterostylous or functionally more or less unisexual, in the latter case male and female flowers on separate trees, actinomorphic, pedicel articulate; calyx 5(—8)-lobed, usually persistent in fruit; corolla campanulate to funnelform, white or greenish to yellow, orange or red, 4—8-lobed; stamens alternating with corolla lobes, inserted on corolla tube, often hairy at base; ovary superior, 4-celled, with a single ovule in each cell, generally 3 cells abortive, style forked twice. Fruit a usually 1-seeded drupe, but practically a nut in Cordia subcordata, mesocarp watery or glutinous. Seed with a membranous coat; endosperm absent; cotyledons plicate. Seedling with epigeal germination; cotyledons leafy, palmately veined, toothed along the upper side; leaves arranged spirally.

— Macroscopic characters:
Heartwood yellowish-brown to brown and indistinctly to fairly distinctly demarcated from the pale greyish sapwood (Cordia dichotoma), or dark brown to chocolate brown, often with darker streaks, and distinctly demarcated from the yellowish-brown sapwood (Cordia subcordata). Grain shallowly interlocked to interlocked. Texture moderately coarse to coarse. Growth rings fairly distinct because of more or less regularly spaced light-coloured bands (Cordia dichotoma) or loose tangential arcs of pores (Cordia subcordata).
— Microscopic characters:
Growth rings fairly distinct, usually marked by differences in pore size and in width of parenchyma bands on either side of the ring boundary (Cordia dichotoma), or by loose tangential arcs of pores and shorter or longer confluent, marginal parenchyma bands (Cordia subcordata). Vessels diffuse (Cordia dichotoma) or diffuse with a slight tendency for a tangential arrangement (Cordia subcordata), 3—8/mm² (Cordia dichotoma) or 8—16/mm² (Cordia subcordata), solitary (60—80% in Cordia dichotoma and 20—60% in Cordia subcordata), in radial multiples of 2—3 or in clusters of 2—5, oval or slightly angular, 80—300 µm in tangential diameter; perforations simple; intervessel pits non-vestured, alternate, polygonal to round, 5—8 µm in diameter; vessel-ray and vessel-parenchyma pits almost similar to intervessel pits, but some enlarged up to 20 µm; tyloses abundant. Fibres 0.9—1.3 mm long, thin-walled to thick-walled, sometimes very thin-walled, with small, simple or minutely bordered pits mainly confined to the radial walls. Parenchyma paratracheal, vasicentric, sometimes confluent, with sporadic apotracheal (marginal) bands (Cordia subcordata) or in regularly spaced, wide or narrow bands at either side of the growth ring boundary, often wider than pores (Cordia dichotoma); vasicentric sheaths often associated with parenchyma bands (Cordia dichotoma); fusiform or in 2-celled strands. Rays 3—4/mm (Cordia dichotoma) or 5—7/mm (Cordia subcordata), (1—)3—5(—6)-seriate, 120—1400 µm high, uniseriate rays low and scarce, heterocellular with one or more marginal rows of square and upright cells (mostly Kribs type heterogeneous II—III); incomplete or complete sheath cells present along part or all the body ray cells. Crystals numerous in axial parenchyma cells and ray cells, prismatic or elongated, often more than one per cell and of various sizes and shapes; in Cordia subcordata also present as crystal sand.
Species studied: Cordia dichotoma, Cordia subcordata.

Trees grow fast on moderately fertile and well-drained sites. It has been reported from Buru (Indonesia) that young plants of Cordia subcordata can reach a height of 1.1—1.5 m 10 months after planting on good sites. In East Java trees were 4—5 m tall in a 2-year-old plantation and on average 7 m tall after 4 years with an average diameter of 6.5 cm.
In Cordia subcordata heavy branches often develop low on the stem and form a wide spreading crown. The stem is often crooked, slanting or appears twisted.
Cordia subcordata plants of 3 years old may already produce fruits. The fruits of this species are probably dispersed by ocean currents; they have a hard stone and corky tissue.

The genus Cordia together with the genus Ehretia is sometimes assigned to a separate family (Ehretiaceae); however, this is not widely accepted. Cordia fragrantissima Kurz occurs in Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand, and is used in Burma (Myanmar) for decorative veneer and furniture, where it is called "sandawa"" or "kalamet"". Cordia alliodora Cham. is a promising agroforestry and plantation tree from tropical America; the wood is used similarly to that of the species indigenous in South-East Asia. It has been introduced e.g. in Sabah, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Hawaii. In Vanuatu it grows very well. There have been reports of Cordia myxa L. from the Malesian area, but these have probably been of Cordia dichotoma, as Cordia myxa is confined to Africa and western Asia to India. However, it is still doubtful whether the two species are truly different.

The tree species of Cordia are usually found in primary and secondary forest in subhumid regions, or in thickets, or even savanna vegetation, especially right on the forest edge. They are most common in lowland vegetation, or even along the coast, but may occur up to 1500 m altitude, and are comparatively strong pioneer species.
Cordia subcordata is suited for planting on sandy soils and can grow well in subhumid climates with an annual precipitation of 1250 mm.

There are 560—700 seeds of Cordia subcordata in one kg. In Malaysia, seeds of this species are reported to take 19—62 days to germinate, with about 25% of the seeds being viable. However, data from Indonesia show that viability may be as high as 90—100%, but seed collected from the ground showed 40—50% germination. Storage under ambient conditions reduces the viability from 60% initially to 40% after 7 months.
It is recommended to sow the seeds 1.5—2 cm deep, pointing downwards. Seedlings should be watered sparingly. In Indonesia, a spacing of 2.5 m 1 m and 2.5 m 3 m has been used. Young plants are not very shade tolerant but can develop reasonably well under light conditions above 30% relative light intensity.

Very large trees often suffer from heart rot.

Both Cordia dichotoma and Cordia subcordata have a large area of distribution and are locally common. They are unlikely to be easily endangered.

Cordia is highly valued locally for its decorative wood. The trees reputedly grow fast and can also be planted in areas with a comparatively dry climate. This could stimulate more research to determine their value as local timber plantation trees, although the often small size and poor shape of the bole, and the occurrence of heart rot in large trees, reduce the value of the trees for this purpose.

Bolza, E. & Kloot, N.H., 1966. The mechanical properties of 81 New Guinea timbers. Division of Forest Products Technological Paper No 41. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Melbourne. pp. 16-19.
Dahms, K.-G., 1982. Asiatische, Ozeanische und Australische Exporthölzer [Asiatic, Pacific and Australian export timbers]. DRW-Verlag, Stuttgart. pp. 241-242.
Eddowes, P.J., 1977. Commercial timbers of Papua New Guinea. Their properties and uses. Office of Forests, Department of Primary Industry, Post Moresby. pp. 58-59.
Gottwald, H., 1983. Hochwertige Austauschhölzer der Gattung Cordia [High-quality substitute timbers of the genus Cordia]. Holz-Zentralblatt 109(88): 1228-1231.
Henderson, C.P. & Hancock, I.R., 1989. A guide to the useful plants of Solomon Islands. Research Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Honaira. pp. 223-225.
Japing, H.W. & Oey Djoen Seng, 1936. Cultuurproeven met wildhoutsoorten in Gadoengan - met overzicht van de literatuur betreffende deze soorten [Trial plantations of non-teak wood species in Gadungan, East Java - with survey of literature about these species]. Korte mededeelingen van het Boschbouwproefstation No 55, part I to VI. pp. 107-110.
Johnston, I.M., 1951. Studies in the Boraginaceae, XX. Representatives of three subfamilies in eastern Asia. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 32: 2-12.
Medrano, R.N., Rocafort, J.E., Parayno, J.A. & Cayabyob, P.C., 1980. Shrinkage of some Philippine woods. Forpride Digest 9(1): 7-18.
Ng, F.S.P., 1989. Boraginaceae. In: Ng, F.S.P. (Editor): Tree flora of Malaya. A manual for foresters. Vol. 4. Forest Research Institute Malaysia. Longman Malaysia SDN Berhad, Kuala Lumpur. pp. 60-62.
Reyes, L.J., 1938. Philippine woods. Technical Bulletin 7. Commonwealth of the Philippines, Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Bureau of Printing, Manila. pp. 422-424.

W.C. Wong (general part, properties, selection of species), S. Sudo (wood anatomy)

Cordia dichotoma
Cordia subcordata

Wong, W.C. & Sudo, S., 1995. Cordia L.. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Soerianegara, I. and Wong, W.C. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial 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:
Cordia dichotoma
Cordia subcordata