4090

5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers

Cordia dichotoma J.G. Forster

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

Fl. ins. austr. prodr. 18: 110 (1786).

Cordia suaveolens Blume (1826), Cordia griffithii C.B. Clarke (1885), Cordia premnifolia Ridley (1915).

Indonesia: kendal (Java), nunang (Kalimantan), toleolo (Moluccas). Malaysia: sekendal, sekendai, petekat (Peninsular). Papua New Guinea: cordia (general). Philippines: anonang (general), anonang-bakir (Ilocos Sur), guma (Balabac). Burma (Myanmar): sebasten tree, thanat. Laos: 'man, 'man khôk. Thailand: mandong (Nakhon Ratchasima), phakmong (Shan, northern), manmu (Lampang).

From India, Indo-China and Thailand, throughout the Malesian area towards the Solomon Islands, north-eastern Australia and New Caledonia.

The wood is used for temporary and light construction, small boats, tools and tool handles; sometimes also used for fuel. The bark and leaves are used medicinally against fever, and as a tonic. The fibres of the bark are used to make ropes. The juice of the fruit has been used for glue and gum. In the Philippines, branches are placed in upland rice to deter termites.

A shrub or small to medium-sized tree up to 25 m tall, bole up to 60(—100) cm in diameter, bark surface smooth to vertically cracked, becoming fissured; corolla up to 1 cm long, white to greenish, with 4—6 lobes; fruit within an open calyx-cup. Cordia dichotoma is locally common in coastal hills, inland fringes of mangrove vegetation, but also in inland primary and secondary forest, thickets, teak forest, and even savanna, up to 700(—1500) m altitude. The density of the wood is 425—520 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

[36]Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1963–1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen.
[60]Bolza, E. & Kloot, N.H., 1966. The mechanical properties of 81 New Guinea timbers. Technological Paper No 41. Division of Forest Products, CSIRO, Melbourne. 39 pp.
[68]Brown, W.H., 1951–1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941–1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Bureau of Printing, Manila.
[77]Burgess, P.F., 1966. Timbers of Sabah. Sabah Forest Records No 6. Forest Department, Sabah, Sandakan. xviii + 501 pp.
[78]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.
[99]Cockburn, P.F., 1976–1980. Trees of Sabah. 2 volumes. Sabah Forest Records No 10. Forest Department Sabah, Sandakan.
[145]Eddowes, P.J., 1977. Commercial timbers of Papua New Guinea, their properties and uses. Forest Products Research Centre, Department of Primary Industry, Port Moresby. xiv + 195 pp.
[203]Gottwald, H., 1983. Hochwertige Austauschhölzer der Gattung Cordia [High-quality substitute timbers of the genus Cordia]. Holz-Zentralblatt 109(88): 1228–1231.
[234]Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlands-Indid [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition, 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch-Indid, 's-Gravenhage. 1953 pp.
[273]Johnston, I.M., 1951. Studies in the Boraginaceae, XX. Representatives of three subfamilies in eastern Asia. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 32: 1–26.
[382]Litsinger, J.A., Price, E.C. & Herrera, R.T., 1978. Filipino farmer use of plant parts to control rice insect pests. International Rice Research Newsletter 3(5): 15–16.
[450]Natadarma, E., 1977. Variabilitas keteguhan beberapa jenis kayu Indonesia [Variability in strength of some Indonesian tree species]. Thesis. Forestry Faculty, Agricultural University, Bogor. 106 pp.
[497]Phengklai, C. & Khamsai, S., 1985. Some non-timber species of Thailand. Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) No 15: 108–148.
[527]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.
[574]Smitinand, T., 1980. Thai plant names. Royal Forest Department, Bangkok. 379 pp.
[676]Vidal, J., 1962. Noms vernaculaires de plantes en usage au Laos [Vernacular names of plants used in Laos]. Ecole frantaise d'extreme-Orient, Paris. 197 pp.
[705]Whitmore, T.C. & Ng, F.S.P. (Editors), 1972–1989. Tree flora of Malaya. A manual for foresters. 2nd edition. 4 volumes. Malayan Forest Records No 26. Longman Malaysia SDN. Berhad, Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya.

W.C. Wong

Wong, W.C., 1995. Cordia dichotoma J.G. Forster. 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