4566

5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers

Sterculia rubiginosa Vent.

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

Jard. Malmaison 2: in note sub pl. 91 (1805).

Sterculia cuneata R.Br. (1844), Sterculia ferruginea R.Br. (1844), Sterculia stipularis R.Br. (1844), Sterculia rufa Korth. (1848), Sterculia translucens Stapf (1894), Sterculia rostrata Ridley (1909), Sterculia brachycarpa Ridley (1918).

Indonesia: jilupang (Bangka), menong balah (Simeuluë), kayu gedang (Kalimantan). Malaysia: magapaga, belinsagut (Sabah). Philippines: malabunot (general), sinaligan (Ibanag, Iloko), bisong (Iloko). Thailand: cha, samkaeo, po fan (Trang).

Burma (Myanmar), southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and adjacent islands, Java, Borneo and the Philippines.

The wood is sometimes used.

A small to medium-sized tree up to 20(—25) m tall, but generally smaller, with bole up to 30 cm in diameter, buttresses up to 1 m high, bark surface smooth becoming minutely fissured or scaly, whitish or greyish-brown to red-brown, inner bark fibrous, pinkish to orange or reddish-brown, twigs slender, 3—5 mm in diameter; leaves simple and entire, lanceolate or elliptical or obovate to obovate-oblong, (4—)7—29 cm (1—)3—13 cm, cuneate or obtuse to cordate at base, subglabrous to densely stellate hairy below, petiole 0.5—6 cm long, stipules lanceolate, generally persistent; inflorescence axillary or subterminal, paniculate or racemose, drooping; calyx with obconical or tubular tube glabrous to densely pubescent inside and 5 lanceolate, converging or spreading lobes as long as the tube to much longer, male flowers with (6—)10(—11) anthers; follicles 3—5, oblong, 3—10 cm long, brown or red; seed globose or ellipsoid, 1—2 cm long, black. Sterculia rubiginosa is possibly conspecific with Sterculia balanghas L. It is a variable species subdivided into 4 varieties. It occurs in primary and secondary forest, up to 1600(—2000) m altitude, in hill forest but also in swampy areas (e.g. in mixed peat-swamp forest in northern Borneo), often in mixed dipterocarp forest on clay-rich soils. The wood is whitish.

[26]Ashton, P.S., 1988. Manual of the non-dipterocarp trees of Sarawak. Vol. 2. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur. 490 pp.
[35]Awang, K. & Taylor, D. (Editors), 1993. Acacia mangium growing and utilization. MPTS Monograph Series No 3. Winrock International & FAO, Bangkok. xiii + 280 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.
[104]Corner, E.J.H., 1988. Wayside trees of Malaya. 3rd edition. 2 volumes. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. 774 pp.
[140]Desch, H.E., 1941–1954. Manual of Malayan timbers. Malayan Forest Records No 15. 2 volumes. Malaya Publishing House Ltd., Singapore. 762 pp.
[465]Ng, F.S.P. & Mat Asri Ngah Sanah, 1991. Germination and seedling records. Research Pamphlet No 108. Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong. 191 pp.
[632]Tantra, I.G.M., 1976. A revision of the genus Sterculia L. in Malesia. Pengumuman No 102. Lembaga Penelitian Hutan, Bogor. 194 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.

R.H.M.J. Lemmens

Lemmens, R.H.M.J., 1995. Sterculia rubiginosa Vent.. 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