4739

5(2): Timber trees; Minor commercial timbers

Toona sureni (Blume) Merr.

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

Interpr. Herb. amboin.: 305 (1917).

Cedrela febrifuga Blume (1823), Toona febrifuga (Blume) M.J. Roemer (1846), Cedrela sureni (Blume) Burkill (1930).

Indonesia: suren (general), serijan, surian amba (Sumatra). Malaysia: surian wangi (Peninsular). Philippines: danupra (general). Burma (Myanmar): ye tama. Thailand: surian.

Nepal, India, Bhutan, Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, southern China, Thailand and throughout Malesia to western New Guinea.

The timber is used as surian, e.g. in house building and for utensils. Various parts of the plant, especially the bark, are used in local medicine, as astringent and tonic and to treat diarrhoea; leaf extracts are reported to have antibiotic activity.

A medium-sized to fairly large tree up to 40(—60) m tall, with bole branchless for up to 25 m and up to 100 cm in diameter, in mountainous areas up to 300 cm in diameter, buttresses, if present up to 2 m high, bark surface usually fissured and flaky, whitish, greyish-brown or pale brown, with aromatic odour when cut; leaflets entire, usually hairy on veins above; petal margins, ovary and disk hairy; columella of fruit concave with apical scarring, fruit valves rough and verrucose with conspicuous lenticels; seed winged at both ends. Toona sureni occurs in primary forest but is more common in secondary forest, often on riparian hillsides and slopes, up to 1700(—2100) m altitude. Locally in Papua New Guinea it can make up up to 6% of the gross volume of the natural forest. In Sulawesi, a large-fruited geographical variant is found, described as Cedrela celebica Koord.; perhaps this is a distinct geographical taxon. The density of the wood is 270—670 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. See also the table on wood properties.

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[38]Bahadur, K.N., 1988. Monograph on the genus Toona (Meliaceae). Bishen Sing Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun. 251 pp.
[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.
[63]Bosbouwproefstation, 1948. Tabellarisch overzicht van de beste kiem-, bewaar- en verzendingswijze van zaad van een aantal boomsoorten en groenbemesters [Tabular summary of the best ways to germinate, store and send seed of some tree and green manure species]. Voorlopig rapport No 38. Bosbouwproefstation, Buitenzorg. 15 pp.
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[125]de Guzman, E., Umali, R.M. & Sotalbo, E.D., 1986. Guide to the Philippine flora and fauna. Vol. 3: Dipterocarps, non-dipterocarps. Natural Resources Management Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources & University of the Philippines, Quezon City and Los Baños. xx + 414 pp.
[146]Edmonds, J.M., 1993. The potential value of Toona species (Meliaceae) as multipurpose and plantation trees in Southeast Asia. Commonwealth Forestry Review 72(3): 181–186.
[155]Evans, J., 1982. Plantation forestry in the tropics. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 472 pp.
[201]Goh, S.C., 1985. Research item: further strength properties of some Malaysian timbers. Malaysian Forester 48(2): 193–195.
[218]Hardjowasono, M.S., 1942. Gewicht en volume van verschillende vrucht- en zaadsoorten [Weight and volume of fruits and seeds]. Korte mededelingen No 20. Bosbouwproefstation, Buitenzorg. 172 pp.
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[415]Merrifield, L.E. & Howcroft, N.H.S., 1975. Propagation of cedar, Toona sureni (Bl.) Merr., from cuttings treated with growth substances. Turrialba 25(1): 54–57.
[426]Merrill, E.D., 1923–1926. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants. 4 volumes. Bureau of Printing, Manila.
[482]Pape, R. (Editor), 1973. New Horizons – Forestry in Papua New Guinea. Department of Forests, Papua New Guinea. Jacaranda Press Pty Ltd, Brisbane. 70 pp.
[623]Symington, C.F., 1935. Cedrela in the Malay Peninsula. Malayan Forester 4: 119–126.
[679]von Meyenfeldt, C.F.W.M. et al., 1978. Restoration of devastated inland forests in South Vietnam. Volume III: List of tree species. Agricultural University Wageningen. 219 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. Toona sureni (Blume) Merr.. 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