6358

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

Tarennoidea Tirveng. & Sastre

Mauritius Inst. Bull. 8(4): 90 (1979).

RUBIACEAE

x = unknown; 2n = unknown

Indonesia: ki cangkudu, ki keuyeup (Sundanese), wuru kudon (Javanese). Burma (Myanmar): katmya. Thailand: lekke (northern).

Tarennoidea comprises 2 species. T. wallichii (Hook. f.) Tirveng. & Sastre (synonyms: Randia wallichii Hook. f., Tarenna incerta Koord. & Valeton) is found in India, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Indo-China, southern China, the Philippines and Java. The other species (T. axillaris (Ridley) Tirveng. & Sastre) is a small tree found in northern Borneo; it has no importance as a timber tree.

In Java the wood of T. wallichii is reported to be valued locally for posts in house building; it is sometimes even planted for this purpose. The wood is also used as a fairly good source of firewood.
T. wallichii has been used as a cover crop in forest plantations of Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese and Eucalyptus deglupta Blume.

Utilization of the wood of T. wallichii is limited and on a local scale only.

T. wallichii yields a medium-weight hardwood with a density of 690-870 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content. Heartwood pale brown or buff with a slight pinkish tinge; grain mostly straight; texture very fine and even; wood with faint figure on tangential surface due to growth rings. Growth rings indistinct sometimes tending to distinct with boundaries indicated by zones with fewer vessels; vessels very small, barely visible with a hand lens, solitary and in radial multiples of 2-4, the larger vessels open; parenchyma very sparse or absent, scanty paratracheal just visible around the larger vessels; rays very fine to fine; ripple marks absent.
The wood is durable only under cover and fairly strong.
See also the table on microscopic wood anatomy.

A shrub or small to medium-sized tree up to 18 m tall; bole usually straight but gnarled, up to 30 cm in diameter, without buttresses; bark surface finely fissured, lenticellate, dark grey, inner bark whitish; crown narrowly ovoid, dense. Twigs wrinkled. Leaves opposite, simple, entire, obovate to oblong, leathery, cuneate at base; petioles short; stipules ovate, caducous. Flowers in an axillary or terminal panicle branched from the base, 5(-7)-merous; calyx cup-shaped, lobed or dentate; corolla with a cylindrical tube with a ring of hairs inside, lobes patent and about as long as tube, yellow; stamens as many as corolla lobes, inserted in throat of corolla tube, with short filaments; ovary inferior, 2-locular with 1 or 2 ovules in each cell, style long and slender. Fruit an ovoid to globose berry, dark green when ripe, containing 3-4 seeds.
The tree shows sympodial growth. Seed is dispersed by birds.
Tarennoidea has recently been separated from the large genus Tarenna. Tarenna wallichii (Hook. f.) Ridley (basionym: Webera wallichii Hook. f.) is not synonymous with Tarennoidea wallichii (Hook. f.) Tirveng. & Sastre.

In Java T. wallichii occurs in lowland and lower montane forest up to 1350 m altitude, in very dry to very humid localities, in mixed forest and in teak forest. It is locally common, but occurs scattered in the forest.

T. wallichii can be raised from seed. Fruits can be stored in contact with the air and need an after-ripening period of about 3 weeks. Seed is extracted from the fruit and soaked in water for 24 hours prior to sowing. There are about 17 000 dry seeds/kg. The seeds should be sown in the shade. The germination rate is about 40%. Seedlings have been planted in Indonesia for soil protection in forest plantations (e.g. in Eucalyptus deglupta plantations on steep slopes and above 700 m altitude) and for slope stabilization. It is probably not difficult to plant this tree in full light. It is not resistant to fire.

T. wallichii occurs throughout Java and has a wide ecological amplitude. In spite of the deforestation there it does not seem particularly endangered, the more so as it has been planted locally.

The dimensions and form of the bole of T. wallichii make its use for sawn timber unlikely. The use of the wood will probably remain restricted to local applications, including posts and small objects.

[70]Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr., R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen.
[80]Balai Penjelidikan Kehutanan, 1950. Daftar ichtisar aturan berketjambah, penjimpanan dan pengiriman bidji dari beberapa djenis pohon dan pupuk hidjau [Tabular summary of the best ways to germinate, store and send seed of some tree and green manure species]. Laporan No 42. Balai Penjelidikan Kehutanan, Bogor. 23 pp.
[405]Hardjowasono, M.S., 1942. Gewicht en volume van verschillende vrucht- en zaadsoorten [Weight and volume of various fruits and seeds]. Korte Mededelingen No 20. Bosbouwproefstation, Buitenzorg. 172 pp.
[436]Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlands-Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition, 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch-Indië. 1953 pp. (3rd edition, 1950. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage/Bandung. 1660 pp.).
[595]Koorders, S.H. & Valeton, T., 1894-1915. Bijdrage tot de kennis der boomsoorten van Java [Contribution to the knowledge of the tree species of Java]. 13 parts. G. Kolff & Co., Batavia, 's-Gravenhage.
[772]Meijer Drees, E., 1951. Distribution, ecology and silvicultural possibilities of the trees and shrubs from the savanna-forest region in eastern Sumbawa and Timor (Lesser Sunda Islands). Communication No 33. Forest Research Institute, Bogor. 145 pp.
[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.
[926]Rappard, F.W., 1951. Korte aantekeningen over de cultuur van Eucalyptus deglupta [Short notes on planting Eucalyptus deglupta]. Tectona 41(5): 63-65.
[1099a]Tirvengadum, D.D. & Sastre, C., 1979. La signification taxonomique des modes de ramification de Randia et genres affines [The taxonomical importance of the branching pattern of Randia and related genera]. Mauritius Institute Bulletin 8(4): 77–94.
[1232]Wisse, J.H., 1965. Volumegewichten van een aantal houtmonsters uit West Nieuw Guinea [Specific gravity of some wood samples from West New Guinea]. Afdeling Bosexploitatie en Boshuishoudkunde, Landbouwhogeschool, Wageningen. 23 pp.

E. Boer (general part), R.H.M.J. Lemmens (general part), J. Ilic (wood anatomy)

Boer, E., Lemmens, R.H.M.J. & Ilic, J., 1998. Tarennoidea Tirveng. & Sastre. 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