4781

5(3): Timber trees; Lesser-known timbers

Adenanthera L.

Sp. pl. 1: 384 (1753); Gen. pl., ed. 5: 181 (1754).

LEGUMINOSAE

x = 13; A. microsperma: 2n = 24, A. pavonina: 2n = 26, 64

Coralwood (En, trade name). Coral bean, saga bean (En). Bois de corail (Fr). Indonesia: saga (general). Malaysia: saga (general). Philippines: tanglin (Filipino). Burma (Myanmar): ywe, ywegyi. Thailand: ma klam (general), ma daeng (northern), phai (peninsular). Vietnam: lim v[af]ng, tr[aws] qu[aj]ch.

Adenanthera comprises 12 species occurring in Sri Lanka, southern Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, southern China, Thailand, the entire Malesian region, the Solomon Islands and northern Australia. Within Malesia 9 species are found. Several species, especially A. pavonina, are widely cultivated and occasionally naturalized within and outside their natural area of distribution, e.g. in Africa, making it difficult to reconstruct their original distribution.

The wood of Adenanthera is used for bridge and house construction (beams, posts, joists, rafters), flooring, paving blocks and vehicle bodies. It may also be suitable for furniture and cabinet work, and turnery, and yields a very good charcoal. In the Philippines it is often used as a substitute for "ipil"" (Intsia bijuga (Colebr.) O. Kuntze), and sometimes even sold as such.
Several species are planted as ornamentals, notably A. pavonina, because of the glossy red seeds that are used as toys and for necklaces, and in earlier days to weigh gold, silver and diamonds, as the seeds have a narrow range in weight. The seeds can also be eaten when roasted or cooked and contain oil. In Indonesia and Malaysia trees are planted for shade in coffee, clove and rubber plantations. In tropical Africa A. pavonina is planted for agroforestry. A. microsperma is also mixed in teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) plantations. Young leaves of A. pavonina are eaten as a vegetable, and in India they have been used in a decoction against rheumatism and gout. The red dye from the wood has been used for dyeing clothes and for the forehead spot of the Brahmins in India. The bark also contains saponin and has been used to wash hair and clothing. The bark and seeds of A. intermedia have been used to cure snake bites and in applications for headache and rheumatism. The bark of A. microsperma is rich in tannin and has been used to tan leather.

Small amounts of Adenanthera timber were exported from India to Europe early in the 20th Century. Nowadays utilization is on a local scale only and supplies are very limited. In Malaysia "saga"" wood also includes that of the genus Ormosia (Leguminosae).

Adenanthera yields a medium-weight to heavy hardwood with a density of 595-1100 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. Heartwood bright yellow when fresh, turning to golden-brown or dark brown, rarely coral-red in A. pavonina, sharply demarcated from the whitish, yellowish, pinkish or pale brown, up to 5 cm wide sapwood; grain interlocked or wavy; texture moderately fine to slightly coarse and even; wood moderately lustrous. Growth rings indistinct, boundaries tending to distinct, indicated by marginal discontinuous parenchyma; vessels medium-sized to moderately large, solitary and in radial multiples of 2-4, sometimes whitish to yellow deposits or dark-coloured gum-like deposits present; parenchyma moderately abundant to abundant, paratracheal vasicentric, aliform and confluent, the latter two types more towards the end of a growth ring, apotracheal diffuse and in marginal or seemingly marginal bands; rays extremely fine, visible only with a hand lens; ripple marks absent, but observed in A. forbesii.
Shrinkage is low to high and the wood seasons very well with only slight warping but it is very susceptible to sap-stain. The wood is very hard and very strong. It is easy to somewhat difficult to work, easy to plane and takes a high finish. The wood is moderately durable to very durable. The heartwood is resistant to dry-wood termites. The sapwood is susceptible to Lyctus.
The bark of A. microsperma contains 12-26% tannin. Trees should attain at least 25 cm in diameter to have a mean tannin content of 20%.
See also the tables on microscopic wood anatomy and wood properties.

Mostly deciduous, small to medium-sized trees up to 30(-40) m tall, rarely shrubs; bole straight and cylindrical to rather poorly shaped, branchless for up to 16 m, up to 100(-200) cm in diameter, buttresses usually low and small but occasionally up to 4 m high; bark surface smooth to cracked, fissured or flaky, reddish-brown to brown, grey-brown or pale pinkish-grey, inner bark soft, pale brown; crown spreading, diffuse, uneven. Leaves arranged spirally, bipinnate, without glands; leaflets alternate, entire; stipules small, caducous. Inflorescence terminal and axillary, consisting of many-flowered, simple, spike-like racemes, solitary or few together. Flowers 5-merous, small, with jointed pedicels; calyx lobes valvate; petals valvate; stamens 10, free; ovary superior, 1-locular with many ovules, style simple. Fruit a strap-shaped, straight to spirally twisted, many-seeded pod, dehiscent along both sutures. Seed red or red and black, shiny, broadly ellipsoid to broadly obovoid or orbicular. Seedling with epigeal germination; cotyledons emergent, fleshy; hypocotyl elongated; first 2 leaves opposite, subsequent ones arranged spirally, first few leaves pinnate, subsequent ones bipinnate.
Planted A. microsperma starts producing seeds at the age of 3 years. On fertile soil its growth is rapid: 20-22 m in height and 20-22 cm in diameter in 12 years. Most species of Adenanthera are deciduous but stay leafless for just a few days. They have been observed flowering and fruiting almost throughout the year, though for short intervals. Inflorescences appear at the apex of the young shoots. The flowering-to-fruiting period of A. malayana in Peninsular Malaysia is about 15 weeks. Seeds are probably eaten and dispersed by birds.
The seed colour (uniformly red or red with a black dot) is quite constant within a species, despite some contrary reports. Adenanthera belongs to the "Adenanthera group"" within the tribe Mimoseae which is characterized by the jointed pedicels with a persistent basal part and alternating leaflets. Its closest relatives are found in Africa.

Adenanthera species are found scattered in primary and secondary, evergreen to dry deciduous rain forest, but also in open savanna-like vegetation, from sea-level up to 900 m altitude. A. kostermansii is also found in peat-swamp and freshwater swamp forest. Most species occur on a wide variety of soil types including sand, clay, limestone and other rocks.

Adenanthera can be propagated by seed. Propagation from large cuttings is also reported to be successful in India, but it proved impossible to propagate A. microsperma by stem or root cuttings. Pods of A. intermedia (and probably also of other species) should be collected from the trees, as they open before being shed. Available dry seed counts per kg are 6400 for A. forbesii, 8000-10 500 for A. microsperma and 3750 for A. pavonina. Seed needs scarification by filing or scraping the hard seed-coat to overcome seed-coat dormancy, otherwise germination is erratic and may take up to 10 months. Seeds of A. pavonina become impermeable with time and after being stored for 8 months they fail to germinate. Their viability, however, is not affected, as after mechanical scarification germination is 100% in 1-4 days. Many seedlings of A. microsperma die when grown in full sunlight. Stumps of seedlings of A. microsperma with 5-10 cm of stem, 20 cm roots and a diameter of 0.5-2.5 cm have been successfully planted. Direct sowing using 4 seeds/hole has also been successful. A. microsperma has been well tested in trials in Java. Fairly dense planting at 2-3 m x 1 m is necessary to prevent trees developing poor stem forms or multiple stems. Using these spacings, canopy closure takes 2-3 years. Early thinning is important, as trees tend to die off when the stand becomes too dense. Timber yield at the age of 12 years is 60-96 m³/ha. In timber plantations of A. microsperma a rotation of 50 years has been recommended.

A. pavonina is widely planted, but there are no known germplasm collections or records of breeding experiments. The other timber-yielding species do not seem to be immediately endangered either.

Research into plantation establishment and silvicultural management of some promising Adenanthera species would be worthwhile, to promote their use.

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J.P. Rojo

Adenanthera forbesii
Adenanthera intermedia
Adenanthera kostermansii
Adenanthera malayana
Adenanthera microsperma
Adenanthera novoguineensis
Adenanthera pavonina

Rojo, J.P., 1998. Adenanthera L.. In: Sosef, M.S.M., Hong, L.T. and Prawirohatmodjo, S. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(3): Timber trees; Lesser-known 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:
Adenanthera forbesii
Adenanthera intermedia
Adenanthera kostermansii
Adenanthera malayana
Adenanthera microsperma
Adenanthera novoguineensis
Adenanthera pavonina