6265

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

Scyphiphora Gaertn. f.

Suppl. carp. (Fruct. sem. pl. 3): 91, t. 196, fig. 2 (1806).

RUBIACEAE

x = 11; S. hydrophyllacea: n = 11

Indonesia: duduk, perepat lanang (Sumatra), duduk rayap (Java). Malaysia: chengam (Peninsular). Philippines: nilad (Filipino), arinaya (Iloko), nilar (Tagalog). Thailand: che ngam (central), se ngam, se-ham (peninsular).

Scyphiphora is a monotypic genus. Its only species, S. hydrophyllacea Gaertn. f., is distributed in Sri Lanka, India, Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, southern China, the Andaman Islands, Thailand, throughout the Malesian region, the Solomon Islands, northern Australia, New Caledonia and the Palau Islands.

The wood of Scyphiphora is used for small objects such as fence posts, tool handles and rice spoons.
In the Riau Archipelago a decoction of the leaves is used in local medicine for treating stomach-ache.

The wood of Scyphiphora is probably used on a local scale only.

S. hydrophyllacea yields a heavy hardwood with a density of 800-910 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. Heartwood dark brown, not clearly differentiated from the sapwood; grain straight; texture very fine and even. Growth rings lacking; vessels extremely small to very small, predominantly solitary with very occasional radial pairs or small clusters, open or with white or yellow deposits; parenchyma moderately abundant, apotracheal diffuse tending to diffuse-in-aggregates, occasionally scanty paratracheal, hardly visible with a hand lens; rays very fine to moderately fine; ripple marks absent.
The wood is hard and strong. It is probably moderately durable when exposed to the weather or in contact with the ground, and durable under cover. The sapwood is rarely susceptible to Lyctus.
See also the table on microscopic wood anatomy.

An evergreen shrub or small tree up to 6 m tall; bole up to 10(-20) cm in diameter, sometimes with small stilt roots; bark surface cracking to slightly scaly or fissured, dark brown to dark grey. Twigs and petioles bright red when young; buds resinous. Leaves opposite, simple, entire, obovate, leathery, blunt at apex, margin recurved, petiolate; stipules forming a low cup-like rim with hairy edge. Flowers in an axillary, cymose inflorescence, nearly sessile, 4-merous; calyx tube with obscure teeth; corolla tube hairy inside, white, with contorted, later recurved lobes; stamens inserted in the mouth of the corolla tube, with short filaments; disk annular; ovary inferior, 2-locular, each cell with 1 ascending and 1 descending ovule, style slender, exserted, stigma 2-lobed. Fruit drupe-like, ellipsoid, with 6-10 longitudinal ridges, green turning yellowish, up to 4-seeded. Seed with thin testa, embryo straight, endosperm present. Seedling with hypogeal germination which is aberrant among Rubiaceae.
Tree development is according to Attims's architectural model, characterized by a monopodial trunk and branches, both showing continuous growth. Growth is seemingly intermittent but irregular. In southern Thailand the trees flower in May-June, with few flowers throughout the year and the fruits ripen one month after flowering. In the Philippines flowering has been observed from January-May, whereas fruits are present in January-June. The flowers are protandrous, with the stigma lobes diverging after the anthers have shrivelled. They are insect-pollinated. Thanks to the spongy layers of the inner fruit wall the fruits float in water.
Scyphiphora is usually included in the tribe Gardenieae and is apparently related to Diplospora. Sterile trees can be mistaken for Lumnitzera (Combretaceae) or Ceriops (Rhizophoraceae), but the former has alternate leaves and the latter a lenticellate bark, more pointed leaf buds and more numerous secondary veins in the leaf. S. hydrophyllacea is the only member of Rubiaceae occurring in mangrove vegetation.
The name of the capital of the Philippines, Manila, was probably derived from the vernacular name of this tree, "ma"" meaning "the place of"" and thus "Manila"" meaning "the place where nilar grows"".

S. hydrophyllacea is an uncommon, though locally abundant constituent of mangrove vegetation and more exposed coastal sites including beaches, on muddy or sandy soils. The trunks are sometimes submerged during high tide. It is usually associated with Rhizophora, Ceriops, Bruguiera, Lumnitzera and Xylocarpus species.

Considered undesirable and sometimes referred to as a pest, S. hydrophyllacea is seriously hindering natural regeneration of preferred species in the mangrove forest.

S. hydrophyllacea is widespread and locally abundant (e.g. in the Philippines) and does not seem liable to genetic erosion. However, in several areas it is rare (e.g. in Java) and such populations may easily become endangered.

S. hydrophyllacea is too small to be of future importance as a timber.

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[861]Oey Djoen Seng, 1951. De soortelijke gewichten van Indonesische houtsoorten en hun betekenis voor de praktijk [Specific gravity of Indonesian woods and its significance for practical use]. Rapport No 46. Bosbouwproefstation, Bogor. 183 pp.
[912]Puff, C. & Rohrhofer, U., 1993. The character states and taxonomic position of the monotypic genus Scyphiphora (Rubiaceae). In: Robbrecht, E. (Editor): Advances in Rubiaceae Macrosystematics. Opera Botanica Belgica 6: 143-172.
[1003]Seidenschwarz, F., 1994. Plant world of the Philippines: an illustrated dictionary of Visayan plant names with their scientific, Tagalog and English equivalents. University of San Carlos, Cebu City. 368 pp.
[1101]Tomlinson, P.B., 1986. The botany of mangroves. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, London, New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, Sydney. 413 pp.
[1221]Whitmore, T.C. & Ng, F.S.P. (Editors), 1972-1989. Tree flora of Malaya. A manual for foresters. 4 volumes. Malayan Forest Records No 26. Longman Malaysia Sdn. Berhad, Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya.
[1233]Wium-Andersen, S., 1981. Seasonal growth of mangrove trees in southern Thailand. III. Phenology of Rhizophora mucronata Lamk. and Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea Gaertn. Aquatic Botany 10(4): 371-376.

N.O. Aguilar

Aguilar, N.O., 1998. Scyphiphora Gaertn. f.. 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